The Devil Went Down To Remnant
by SparktheDog
Summary: Arkham is dead and Sparda's power is free from corruption. So is this the end? Don't bet on it! Dante and Vergil are back on opposite sides as they now have a new world to roam around: The world of Remnant! So what are you waiting for? Raise Hell!
1. Mission 1: TDWDTG

**Welp, here's that DMC x RWBY crossover fic I mentioned. If the title seems familiar, it should, since it's a reference to the Charles Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down To Georgia".**

 **Also, quick heads up, even though this takes place early in volume 1, I'm spoiling the volume 4 character trailer rotten so, you've been warned.**

* * *

 **Devil May Cry is owned by CAPCOM**

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth**

* * *

 **WARNING**

 ** _This fanfic contains scenes of explicit violence and gore_**

 _HYA!_

 _CRKK!_

 _Bzz. bzzz._

 _"Sweet dreams!"_

* * *

"I'll try it your way for once."

"Remember what we used to say?"

" _ **DON'T DO IT!**_ "

 _Click_

 _Click_

" _JACKPOT!_ "

" _JACKPOT!_ "

 _BLAM!_

 _BLAM!_

As the two brothers pulled the triggers, their demonic energy manifested themselves into red and blue bullets, filled with enough power to put down the power-hungry Arkham for good.

" _ **I HAVE THE POWER OF SPARDA!**_ "

The blue-coated demon brother, Vergil, scoffed at his remark all while returning a handgun back to his red-coated twin. "Not very classy for someone's dying words."

Their journey would've ended there, had the two amulets belonging to the twins not emerged from the gelatinous corpse alongside Force Edge. Upon recognizing the items, Vergil pushed aside his brother Dante in attempt to reclaim his heritage. Dante followed suit, not wanting his twin to selfishly take their father's power for himself.

The half-demons leapt inside a hole, where the amulets and sword fell through. Vergil was successful in grabbing his amulet in conjunction with his father's dormant sword, but Dante reclaimed his amulet as well. The two continued to fall with no end in sight... that is, until a bright flash of light swallowed them whole...

* * *

 **[Music: Sparda - Devil Sunday (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

 **Two millenniums ago,**

 **there was a war between**

 **the human world and the other,**

 **the Underworld.**

 **But somebody from the Underworld**

 **woke up to justice**

 **and stood up against this legion**

 **alone.**

 **His name was Sparda.**

 **Later, he quietly reigned the**

 **human world and continued**

 **to preserve harmony** **until his death.**

 **He became a legend.**

 **The Legendary Dark Knight,**

 **Sparda.**

* * *

These were the words forever encrypted on the back of a hard cover book currently in a young girl's hands. Her name is Blake, a cat faunus living as a human. Night has fallen over the prestigious academy known as Beacon, and everyone, save for her, was asleep.

She was about to open her book when she felt a faint, white light flash dimly for half a second. Curious, she looked out the window, wondering what it was. Strangely enough, she found nothing.

 _Maybe it was just a passing ship_ , she thought. _Or perhaps a light went out._

Blake decided it would be best if she went to sleep like everyone else. She gracefully leapt over the other students towards her sleeping bag, her eyes resting for the initiation to come.

* * *

 _ **MISSION 1:**_

 _ **The Devil Went Down To Georgia**_

 _A new land calls for a new adventure._

 _ **MISSION START**_

* * *

The Emerald Forest, while beautiful to visit, isn't exactly the safest place to be in, especially in the dead of night. It was a time where demons freely roamed the grassy planes, looking for their next meal, making it a terribly bad choice for a camping site. Even worse if you ended up there without a choice.

Nevertheless, Dante's icy blue eyes slowly came to light as the demon hunter strained himself to get up from off the ground. _What happened?_ he thought hazily.

His feet wobbled as he tried to find his sense of balance. The half-breed looked up to the night sky, as he recalled what happened not so long ago.

 _Oh yeah. Vergil and I blasted that Arkham guy to hell. Speaking of which, where art thou, brother?_

Out of panic, Dante raised his right hand, opening it up to see his amulet, still safe in his palm.

 _If Vergil really was here, he would've taken this thing without a second thought. I better keep this safe, though. No telling when he'll show up._ Dante slid his half of the amulet into his front pocket before continuing on to more pressing matters.

"Like WHERE THE HELL AM I?"

His sudden outburst didn't go unnoticed, as he soon heard faint growls from behind the bushes. The red-coated devil turned towards the source of the growls, reaching for his twin handguns Ebony & Ivory.

Slowly, the beasts revealed themselves, slowly emerging from the bushes in the forms of humanoid wolves. Dante, however, was unfazed by their appearance. Hell, he ever _laughed_ at them!

"What?" he asked between chuckles. "Were the big dogs downstairs havin' a day off?" By the time one of them lunged, Dante whipped out Ebony and shot the demon dead square in the head.

...which would've happened had the bullet not bounced off its skull armor plating.

"Huh... that's a first," Dante commented. _Plan B_. The demon hunter pulled out his sword Rebellion, and gutted the attacking wolf after narrowly ducking under it. Satisfied with his kill, he turned to the others, who grew a bit hesitant after seeing one of their comrades effortlessly killed. "Alright. Who's next?"

 **[Music: Taste The Blood (** _ **Devil May Cry 3 OST**_ **)]**

The other wolves wasted no time in avenging their fallen, as they circle around the half-demon in an attempt to catch him off-guard. All this did, however, was making it easier for him to slash a good chunk of the pack with a few well time strikes.

 _SLASH!_

 _SLASH!_

 _SLASH!_

 _GRAHHH!_

One by one, the demons evaporated into nothingness, with another herd jumping through the thick, black fog. Dante had a split second to dodge them, and while he was successful in avoiding a few of them, two got lucky and knocked him back with well-timed slashes. Despite the sudden attack, Dante was able to get back on his feet, ready to retaliate. One of the wolves charged in, ready for a follow up, but the red-coated hunter slammed his sword to the ground, the force applied causing it to bounce right up and into the demon's gut.

" _C'MON!_ " Dante cried as he stomped his foot onto Rebellion's hilt, piercing it even farther into the doomed demon. The wolf went flying, but not before Dante dislodged the sword, swinging it back as it exited the fallen creature… all while unintentionally beheading another wolf that was standing right behind him. _Eh, I'll take it._

The hunter danced all over the stage, avoiding attacks, leaping off trees, agitating the wolf pack into grouping up. "Come and get me!" he would taunt. When he saw about 5 in a line, Dante took it as the perfect opportunity to use his trademark Stinger to lunge forward and penetrate all of them at once. He then made a mad dash towards another, and used its head as a stepping stone to launch high into the air.

Time slowed down as Dante observed the demon swarm below him. His eyes moved all over the place as he planned his next move.

 _Plan? What plan? Just go with the flow!_

He whipped out Ebony & Ivory, repositioning himself so he was now upside down just to unload a Rainstorm of bullets down on to the wolf army. He narrowed his shots so he could safely land on his feet, surrounding himself in the wolf's den once more. Not like something like that would stop him. He raised one of his guns in the air, finger still on the trigger, and began to spin it around, firing a shot each time it passes a demon.

 _BLAM!_

 _BLAM!_

 _BLAM!_

 _BLAM!_

 _BLAM!_

" _WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!_ "

Over the time the demon hunter was slaughtering the pack, one of the Hellspawn got wise and realize just how dangerous this person was. Not wanting to taste the half-demon's wrath, the lone wolf turned tailed and ran, which didn't go unnoticed by Dante. "Oh no you don't!" he yelled as he _threw_ his gun at the fleeing demon. The gun's muzzle impacted the unprotected black fur of the creature, leading it to fire off one last bullet through its head. Ivory returned to Dante's hand after killing the last one. "Nice work, guys." He praised his guns as if they were human.

 **[Music fades out]**

Dante holstered both handguns after sensing the once plentiful army diminished. "Now that, was _stylish!_ " He stretched out his arms, having finishing his workout, and shortly shook out his body as he began to venture through the forest for an exit to civilization.

 _Easier said than done._ The hunter knew in the back of his mind that he wouldn't get much results in this darkness. _Sucks that I don't have a Luminite with me._ The demon hunter decided for the best to find some place to turn in for the night and get a better chance of escaping tomorrow during the day. Coincidentally, he found a cave.

It was a spacious, yet dank, cavern, shrouded in darkness. Of course, Dante knew no light could get in a cave... until he spotted something glowing. _Sweet, this cave comes with a night light!_ And then, magma eyes met blue, with deadly snapping to accommodate their meeting. _Oh, you have got to be kidding me._

* * *

Vergil woke up from his crash in a daze. He looked around him to find nothing but the ruins of what he assumed was a once-lively village. He got up, Yamato sheathed in one hand with Force Edge and an amulet in the other. The blue demon placed the amulet around his neck and tucked it under his shirt before putting away the dormant sword on his back, which soon disappeared from public eye.

 _No doubt Dante ran_ , Vergil theorized. _Let it be known that sooner or later, I_ will _get what I deserve._

The second son was about to leave the ruins before an ominous sense of danger stopped him in his tracks. _Demons..._

Suddenly, black creatures of various forms popped from the rubble, each seemingly based on the animals of the wilderness. Wolves howled as they appeared, armored bears made their presence known, a gigantic scorpion covered in bone plating erupted from the ground, all while two ravens of large proportions circled the make-shift battlefield.

 **[Music: Ultra Violet (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

The blue son of Sparda was unfazed by the opposition that stand before him. But that didn't stop his eagerness to fight from rising.

 _Click._ Yamato's blade peeked through the sheath.

" _This may be fun._ "

The wolf pack launched first, all of them attempted to slash their victim into bits, but faster than the eye can see, he warped above them, sheathing his katana until an audible _click w_ as heard. The wolves were then surrounded by a dark mist, with slashes of navy blue piercing through their frozen bodies before rupturing with light, as the creatures were then split to pieces.

 _SCRAAWK!_

One of the ravens made themselves present behind the airborne demon, so Vergil used his Trick to phase out of its attack, then slashed off the bird's right wing with one, lightning-fast swing, causing it to spiral out of control before crashing into a nearby forest. He wasn't able to avoid the second bird, however, as he soon found himself bouncing on its blackened beak. _Damn it,_ Vergil cussed himself. The blue demon was able to jump onto the raven's back, and soon dashed down to its tail, using Rapid Slash to ensure maximum damage. The strikes from Yamato left deep scars that gashed open with blood, as all feeling left the demon bird's body, causing it to crash down to earth, just like the one before it.

Vergil surveyed the swarm below him, sensing a large pack of wolves guarding the armored bear in the area. He buckled Yamato to his side, and from the shine of light emitting from his hands and feet, the light gauntlets Beowulf took form. He lunged towards the group feet-first, and, due to the velocity from his Starfall, created a large impact crater that staggered the bear, but launched all the other wolves. He used the open space to his advantage, flinging a barrage of kicks to its core before launching a Beast Uppercut that sent the Hellspawn flying. But his brutality didn't end there, as the half-bred warped to the Ursa's position to perform powerful flip kicks revolving at high speeds before splitting the bear in half with a devastating heel kick. The wolves landed roughly on the ground, but not even they were spared, as Sparda's spawn teleported in front of them, delivering powerful punches with enough force to penetrate their bodies, resulting in their deaths.

Suddenly, the grounds began to crack, and dark creatures sporting two legs and a tail erupted from the ground. Vergil discarded Beowulf in favor of Force Edge, as he used Yamato in conjunction to rush down on these creatures one by one. Feeling one behind him, he quickly sheathed Yamato and pierced its body with his father's sleeping sword. Time stood still as the blade went through the monster's abdomen, as the blue-coated demon removed the blade, only to stab it again and again in different areas. His stabbing rate increased as time went on, and before long, Vergil was delivering a Million Stabs per second, with the last strike causing complete disintegration.

As for the scorpion, the armored beast lunged its stinger at the son of Sparda, only for it to miss its mark each time due to his far superior speed. Eventually, the large scorpion lost its patience and rammed its stinger into the ground with all of its might. Sadly, for the demon, this backfired as the stinger was now stuck in the earth. Seeing it as his time to strike, he knelt down and delivered his demonic energy into Force Edge until it glowed a solid black. Locking on to his target, Vergil delivered a Drive strong enough to split the stinger from the scorpion's tail, causing it to screech in horror before dying when its wound was penetrated by Blistering Summoned Swords.

 **[Music fades out]**

Vergil putted away Force Edge as he killed the armored scorpion. He would've left by now had he not felt something off about his environment. He was about to dismiss his paranoia when he suddenly heard the sound of a boulder approach him. The Darkslayer turned around and slashed the giant projectile with Yamato, but was left wide open as a giant fist knocked the air out of him, sending him flying towards an abandoned clock tower in the process. The fist reeled back, revealing itself to be part of a giant, black gorilla with one glowing eye of a magma hue. The great ape roared in triumph as it repeatedly slammed its fists onto its chest, celebrating its victory against the human.

But Vergil is no human...

 **[Music: Swear In The Name Of Father (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

...Far from it.

The gorilla looked in confusion as dark energy flew past his feet, rising above to the top of the broken clock tower where it seems to be collected. Then, from out of nowhere, a strike of lightning came down, destroying the roof, exposing the inner walls to the open air. From out of the rubble emerged Vergil, no longer human. His head was protected in an organic covering that warped his design to something more reptilian. His coat now had rough scales that are not only flexible, but firm, with his fingers turning into sharp claws. While Yamato remained unchanged, the sheath was now connected underneath his left forearm.

Vergil was now surged with power, an ominous blue aura radiating off his person. He leapt downwards to the gorilla that struck him, and menacingly walked towards the primal ape. The primate took his actions as a challenge, as it winded up its punch and launched it at the blue demon. This proved to be useless, as thanks to his increased speed and strength, Vergil was able to effortlessly block the attack with just his hand. The beast strikes again, determined to cave in his face, and like before, was deflected away from the son of Sparda. The monkey roared in frustration, as he decided to use both of his hands to kill its opponent.

It was a fatal mistake, as Vergil brought out Yamato to slice off _both_ of its hands. The ape staggered backwards, all sense of superiority replaced with fear as it tried to back away from the demon's wrath, its way of pleading for mercy.

But Vergil isn't one for forgiveness.

He stepped back, leaving his right foot forward, bending at the knee. He clutched the hilt of Yamato, energy coursing through his veins as the world shook violently in response to his might. The ape's eyes widened in fear knowing that no matter how hard it tried, the beast couldn't escape. Its fate was sealed when Vergil's eyes glowed a deep, violent blue.

 _ **"You will not forget this devil's power!"**_

The world froze as Vergil busted into energy, invisible to the naked eye. The frozen gorilla was now covered in slash lines all over its most vital parts and then some, each slash the size of a city block. The half-demon then materialized back in his human form, kneeling with his back to the beast, the clock ticking down as Yamato slowly slid back to its sheath.

 _Click_

 _ **GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**_

A blood-curling scream reverbed throughout the world, as the once powerful beast was falling apart at the seams, due to the severity of the cuts. Vergil, however, payed no mind to its dying screams. By the time the screeching stopped, the monster deteriorated, and the battle was won.

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

 _Clap._

The Darkslayer rose his head to the direction of the clapping, spotting a young woman in a red dress and amber eyes, with jet-black hair flowing down her back.

"I'm impressed," she complemented. "In all my life, I have never seen someone take down a large amount of Grimm in such a short amount of time. And with such gracefulness as well."

Vergil wasted no time in pointing Yamato towards the mysterious female. "Who are you?"

The woman pushed aside the katana before speaking. "I am like you. Someone who was denied the right to the strength I- _we_ deserve."

"Quite a bold accusation you have," the demon responded. "You don't know _what_ I'm after."

The woman paused as she studied his eyes. "A man's eyes can tell me everything, especially when they crave the same thing I need. 'Power' they say. 'Give me more _power_ '."

The son of Sparda still had a hard time trusting this woman... but he was willing to humor her. He sheathed Yamato before standing up. "What do you want?"

"I have a... friend, you could say. Someone who could help you with your goal. I merely wish to introduce you to her."

"... If you're wasting my time, I'll waste your life."

 **[Music: Mission Start Version 2 (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

The woman gave a satisfying smile in response to that wager. "My name is Cinder. Cinder Fall. Come, I'll take you to my 'friend's' location." Cinder reached out to an open spot before a blood-red rune hovered over her hand, followed by a black aura manifesting on the floor. The aura transmuted into a small portal that led into some sort of underworld. Cinder stepped aside, allowing Vergil to enter first, before following suit, the portal closing after she stepped inside.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a middle-aged woman in samurai attire, her face covered by a mask save for her raven hair, was watching the conversation play out from behind the ruined buildings of the village. _This cannot be good..._

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **I had way too much fun writing Vergil's battle scenes. You know it's true when he takes up _half of the god damn chapter_.**

 **Now, some might be wondering that since I got this fic out, I'll be going back to _MGR: REMNANT_. To answer your question: no. Wait, wait, shimmer down, put the pitchforks down, the reason being is that I want to do a 4-4 rule, where every four chapters, I'll be switching back and forth between the two fics. When they'll be up depends on how much free time I have (and if my Motivation Gauge is at max). So stay tuned for three more chapters staring the Sons of Sparda!**


	2. Mission 2: Welcome To The Jungle

**Well this took forever, mostly due to school reasons (damnnovemberfillingmyroomwithassignmentsuptomyarmpits). Also, I had to rewrite a fight scene due to how I realized that Dante did jack squats. But, it's here, it's done, enjoy it.**

 **Heads up: More bitchier Weiss alert. Also, minor Volume 4-1 spoilers.**

* * *

 **UPDATE: 1/26/2019: So with information from Volume 6 regarding Salem being made public, I decided to rewrite the introduction scene between Vergil and Salem. Also fixed some spelling mistakes.**

* * *

 _ **MISSION 2:**_

 _ **Welcome To The Jungle**_

 _The greatest of allies are met in the most unlikely of places._

 ** _MISSION START_**

* * *

Dante will admit, he had better mornings.

Well, he didn't exactly have a good's night sleep either, but in all honesty, having a giant scorpion for a roommate will do that to you. Damn thing almost ate him whole, but it was a good thing a charged shotgun blast was able to fill its appetite...

...Among other things.

Then his sleep was interrupted by the sound of spring pads, gunshots, explosions and a screaming girl. _You'd think having demon powers would help block out the sounds,_ Dante thought. _Guess I'm not sleeping in today._ The half-demon grabbed his coat and threw it on himself, then holstered Ebony  & Ivory before equipping Rebellion. With his gear intact, he set off to find a way out of the god-forsaken forest.

Which was easier said than done because

" _EVERYTHING LOOKS THE DAMN SAME!_ "

Frustrated, Dante leaned back against a tree and pondered his predicament. Too bad his thinking time was interrupted when he saw a slash of fire coming at him. The red-coated demon rolled to the side as he saw the flames impacted the tree, roasting it in seconds.

"That's it!" Dante yelled, "That's the last straw! First, I end up in some random forest, then I had to share a cave with a scorpion looking for a midnight snack! I couldn't even sleep because of all the commotion outside, everything is a cookie-cutter and pasted so I can't even leave, AND THEN I ALMOST GOT FLAME-BROILED!"

"Well don't blame me! Blame my pathetic excuse for a partner!"

The demon hunter was honestly caught off-guard by the fact that someone responded to him. In confusion, Dante looked for the source of the voice, only to find two petite girls, one wearing a black dress and red hood, the other wearing an all-white dress. "Aren't you two a little young to be out here? What are you two even doing?" Dante had to ask.

"We're not that young!" shouted the black-dressed girl.

"And for your information, we are here to complete an initiation so we could attend Beacon." The white said.

"And Beacon is... what again?" Black/Red and White had to double take at Dante's response. _How could this guy not know about Beacon?_ they both thought.

" _WHAT_?" they both shouted, before White took over. "Have you been living under a _rock_?"

"Well," the red-coated hunter spoke, "if it means any difference, I slept in a cave." _Not the most luxurious place to sleep..._

"Beacon is a highly-praised combat school that only the best of the best can get into," White took a side glance towards her partner. "Most of the time."

"Hey!"

Dante hid a smirk under his hand before speaking up. "Well, surely one of you must know a way out. Between you and me, I rather have civilization."

The red-hooded girl nervously scratched her head upon hearing Dante's request. _Oh boy_ , he thought. "Actually, we don't know a way out?" She gave a light chuckle, much to the devil hunter's disappointment. "Buuuut, we are trying to find relics so we could get in Beacon, so we find the relics, we find the exit?"

 _Better than nothing._ The son of Sparda reached out his hand in agreement. "The name's Dante."

"Ruby. Ruby Rose." she introduced herself as she shook Dante's hand.

"Like the model?"

"The what?"

"Never mind."

"And I," interrupted White, "am Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, _the_ most influential Dust exporters in all of Remnant."

"And I care, why?" Dante asked.

The heiress scoffed at his remark. "Do you not use Dust?"

"First off," the devil hunter started, "I'm not a farmer, I'm a devil hunter, there's a difference. Second, Remnant? Last time I checked, I was going up and down and all-around in an ancient demon tower my dad sealed away years ago."

Obviously, a statement like that earned the red-coated demon some blank stares of disbelief. "Y- you're joking, right?" the Ice Queen stuttered. "Please tell me you're joking!"

The devil hunter placed his hand on his chin as if he tried to think up of a better answer. "Nope," popping a P.

The two girls both fell flat on the ground, face-first, with an audible _THUNK!_ shocking the red-coated demon. The unlikely pair then bombarded Dante with questions "ARE YOU REALLY FROM ANOTHER WORLD?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DEMON TOWER'?"

"WHAT WEAPONS DO YOU HAVE?"

"DO YOU TAKE US FOR FOOLS?"

Ebony went off in the sky, shutting the two girls up. "Okay," Dante grabbed their attention. "Yes, a lot, maybe, and by demon tower, I mean a literal, 99 floor tower that was locked up in Hell for thousands of years."

Silver eyes widened in awe as she stared down the extra-terrestrial hunter. Weiss' icy blue eyes widened as well, but from shock instead. "So!" Ruby started, "What's it like? In your world?"

Dante was about to answer when he suddenly remembered the reason the two girls were here to begin with. "Don't you two have an initiation to finish?"

The red riding huntress gasp in realization that she forgot all about Beacon. "You're right! We gotta get those relics, so follow my lead everyone!"

"Oh no," objected the Ice Queen, "We're not gonna follow _your_ instructions! Seeing as how _I'm_ the _only_ sensible one, you'll be following _my_ lead!"

"Not with that attitude, we aren't!" And just like that, Dante and Ruby went off to find the keys to Beacon, with Weiss following suit after throwing a hissy fit, slicing a tree down with a wind-slice courtesy of Myrtnaster.

But they all failed to notice a single black feather falling from the tree...

* * *

"Jaune, I don't think the relic would be in here."

"Oh, come on, Pyrrha, I just made this torch. At least humor me for five more feet!"

Despite her partner's determination, the Amazon Warrior, Pyrrha Nikos, can't help but feel like their spelunking would end in disaster. It wasn't long before her noodly-blond partner, Jaune Arc, tripped on a rock, dropping the torch in a small puddle of water. "Whelp," Jaune spoke, "so much for that."

They would've turned back had the advanced darkness not blinded them, their existence proven only by the light of their eyes. "Jaune?" The Amazon called out.

"I'm fine! I…" The blue-eyed blond lost his train of thought when he saw a faint red light radiating in the cave. "I think I found the relic!" Jaune slowly crept forward to the light. He was greeted by a rather large red orb, surrounded by black scales. Thinking this was it, he pulled out his sword, Crocea Mors, and aligned it along the edge. With great force, Jaune struck the edge, attempting to prop it out, only to find the red orb leaking blood… and then the scales moved… and then it revealed itself to be one head of a King-

"This is not the relic, is it?"

 _ **HIIIIISSSSSS!**_

* * *

 _BLAM!_

There was always something about hand-to-hand combat that excited Yang.

It might have something to do with being point-blank of the action, she doesn't know, but that didn't stop the buxom fighter from doing it anyways.

"And another one bites the dust!" She exclaimed as her partner, Blake emerged from behind, having finishing off her share of Grimm.

"So," the secret faunus began, "Shall we-"

 _ ***Sounds of high-pitched, girly screams of fear***_

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed, but Blake wasn't convinced.

"Somehow, I doubt it."

* * *

 **[Music: Suffer (** _ **Devil May Cry HR/HM Arrange**_ **)]**

"IT'S NOT THE RELIC, PYRRHA! _**IT'S NOT!**_ "

In all honesty, Pyrrha didn't need confirmation from her partner to know that… who was currently hanging from the empty socket that once had an eye in it.

The champion of Mistral tried her best to devise a plan to bring down Jaune (mostly) unharmed, but the quick attacks of the King Taijitu made such a task harder than it needs to be. With Miló in one hand and Akoúo in the other, Pyrrha struggled to keep on the offensive while deflecting away the twin-headed snake's attacks. It wasn't until she saw an opportunity to stun it by transforming Miló into rifle-form and shooting the scarred eye, dropping Jaune in the process.

Before he could become a stain on the floor, Pyrrha used her polarity to pull the noodle towards her to safety. Unfortunately, that leaves the problem of the 3-eyed Taijitu that wants the two teens deader than dead, as it began rushing at them at a vengeful pace.

"RUN!" commanded Jaune.

And so they did, with a pissed-off Taijitu right behind them.

* * *

"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!"

In her defense, riding the wings of a Nevermore just to cover more ground is a pretty stupid plan… if you're anyone but Dante or Ruby, that is.

"WE'RE FINE!" Ruby tried to reassure her scared partner, "STOP WORRYING!"

"HOW COULD I NOT? YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A RECKLESS EXCUSE OF A HUNTRESS! 'FOLLOW ME' YOU SAID, 'IT WILL BE FINE IF YOU TRUST ME' YOU SAID. WELL I RATHER TRUST MY LIFE TO THE PATHETIC FAUNUS WORKING IN THE SLUMS THAN YOU!" The red-cloaked hunters couldn't help but cringe at the heiress' rant.

"Sheesh, and I thought Lady was a hard-ass." Luckily, the harsh winds made it harder for anyone to hear Dante's solo comments.

"AND YOU!" _Oh boy_ "YOU ARE JUST AS BAD, IF NOT _WORSE_ , THAN THAT INSUFFERABLE RED BRAT! ANY EXPERIENCED HUNTER WOULD'VE TURNED DOWN SUCH AN IDIOTIC PLAN, BUT INSTEAD, YOU'RE JUST ENABLING HER RECKLESS BEHAVIOR! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT CALLING YOURSELF ONE OF US IF YOU KEEP MAKING POOR DECISIONS LIKE THIS! I WOULD RATHER HAVE ANYONE ELSE TO BE MY PARTNER, HELL, I WOULD RATHER TAKE _JAUNE_ OVER THE BOTH OF YOU COMBINED! ANYTHING IF IT MEANS BEING AWAY FROM YOU AND _ESPECIALLY THAT DAMNED BRAT NAMED RUBY ROSE!_ "

Hearing the Schnee's explosive was enough to almost bring Ruby to tears. Even Dante thought that speech was unnecessarily harsh and uncalled for, so, having enough, Dante decided to put Weiss in her place. "WELL MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED BEING SUCH A _BITCH_ AND ACTING MORE SUPPORTIVE, YOU PROBABLY NEVER WOULD'VE GUESSED THAT RUBY AND I ARE AS HUMAN AS ANYONE ELSE!" Hearing Dante's rebuttal put a stop to Weiss' rampage, but that didn't stop the half-demon from continuing his rant. "BUT THEN AGAIN, WHAT DO I KNOW? AFTER ALL, _I_ WASN'T _SPOON-FED_ EVERY SINGLE THING THAT I WANTED!"

Hearing Dante's counter brought the young Rose out of her funk, and even gave her the strength to carve a small smile. She barely had any friends at Signal (if only she was more interested in their weapons than anything else), and had a hard time trying to socialize ever since her sister left her cold open in the landing bay. Granted, it was where she met Jaune and Blake, but it was also where she encountered Weiss in all of her bitchiness. But as she scanned the ground, she noticed something in the nick of time. "UH, GUYS? WE BETTER GET OFF, RIGHT NOW!"

"WHY?" was the reactions of both Dante and Weiss, having snapped out of their argument.

"BECAUSE WE WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO _LAND_ ON IF WE KEEP GOING LIKE THIS!" the young rose stated as she pointed out the waning land bellow.

Ruby was first to jump off the Nevermore, with Dante following suit after pulling Weiss away from the oversized bird. Knowing that they wouldn't survived at this height, Dante tossed the heiress towards Ruby before speeding up to catch them both, praying that his body will cushion their fall. The trio landed harshly on the ground with an audible _CRUNCH_ , but Dante was surprised that his plan worked, seeing the two girls intact and breathing heavily. Weiss was the first to pull away before Ruby, as they dusted themselves off and straightened their combat skirts.

"Never. Do that. Again." Weiss managed to say.

Ruby only gave a nod at the heiress before giving her attention to the son of Sparda, who was still lying on the floor. "Hey, you alright?"

Dante gave a thumbs up before hazily getting back up to continue the trail. "Hopefully it's not too far away. Maybe that mini-temple there is it?" the devil hunter hypothesized as he pointed to an open faced podium with pedestals containing… "Chess pieces? We went through all that trouble… for something anyone could've gotten at a mini-mart for ninety-nine cents?"

"Well, my uncle Qrow said that Headmaster Ozpin has a strange way of doing things." Ruby informed. "Maybe these chess pieces mean something?"

"Yeah, and there's a reason why Disney green-lit _Dog with a Blog_."

"Besides," surprisingly, Weiss was the one who spoke, "I don't think these are ordinary chess pieces to begin with. For starters, who makes them out of pure gold and silver?"

As soon as her partner pointed it out, Ruby did noticed the unorthodox choice of materials used as she inspected her golden knight piece. "Well, I guess-"

"RUBY!" The young girl snapped her head towards the one who hollered out her name. To her surprise, the one who peered out of the bush was none other than her very own sister, Yang!

"YANG!"

"Wait," interrupted Blake as Ruby and Yang got ever closer for a hug. "How can you be sisters if you don't, well, you know…?"

Now of course, such topics would be considered insensitive, but Yang didn't mind. "We'll get to that later."

 _BOOM!_

" _YEEEHAWWW!"_

The hunter group turned their heads to the rodeo call beyond the other side of the bush. And boy, the look on their faces when they say a pink-skirted ginger riding an Ursa like a pony (though a very scary looking pony). The Ursa's legs then gave out as it soon died of exhaustion, but in all fairness, anyone would've done the same thing if they had to put up with the shenanigans of-

" _NORA!_ "

The girl, now known as 'Nora', turned to the person shouting her name, who was a guy sporting a green tailcoat and tan slacks, but the most eye catching was the pink streak seen coexisting with the rest of his black ponytail. "Ren," the bubbly girl spoke with a playful frown on her face, "My ride broke. Can I get a new one?"

The response she got from her exhausted friend(?) was a simple, but effective, "Don't ever do that again."

Nora didn't even pout to his retort; she just gave an "innocent" smile. By the time the scene ended, only the faunus and the heiress had questions. "Did that girl just rode on an Ursa?"

"GANG WAY!" Not long after, the trees violently parted to make way for the dorky blonde, Jaune, and her partner Pyrrha, oh, and a killer three-eyed King Taijitu on their tails.

Dante took the rampaging twin-headed snake's approach as a challenge as he gripped the handle of Rebellion, "Just when I thought things were getting boring."

 _ **SKRAAAAWK!**_

 _And it just keeps getting better,_ Dante thought with a smirk as he saw the Nevermore from earlier circling above them, wanting to get back at them for using it as a ride.

The demon hunter looked to the side to see the group of kids he was traveling with deploy their weapons, and, simply put, he was amazed by the colorful selection. From sniper-scythes to grenade-hammer-launchers, the son of Sparda got a bit jealous that the gatekeepers he defeated back at Temen-Ni-Gru didn't transform to those type of weapons.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Devil Arms he acquired.

The hunters all stood their ground… until Ruby unexpectedly folded her scythe to holster it. "Our fight isn't with them." Unsurprisingly, this gave her some reactions of confusion. "Our objective is to get the relics and return to the cliffs, we shouldn't waste our time on these."

Yang almost looked like she was ready to protest, until Blake intervened. "She's right. Let's grab the relics and get out of here."

Yang and Blake grabbed the same golden knight pieces reminiscent of what Ruby and Weiss took, while Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren acquired the golden rooks. As Ruby head outwards, she noticed that they were missing one person. Turning back, her eyes widened in fear as she saw Dante, still standing as the two monsters approached him. "DANTE!" She shouted. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

The red-coated half-breed ignored the young girl pleads, not moving an inch as the black side of the Taijitu shot its head at Dante at full force. Ruby hid underneath her hood, not wanting to witness the eventual death of her friend.

 _ **HISSSS!**_

 **[Music: Shoot the Works (** _ **Devil May Cry 2 OST**_ **)]**

 _KLANG!_

Ruby snapped upwards hearing the impact of metal to see Dante _holding off the Taijitu with just his sword!_

"Two words," the Demon Hunter taunted. "Breath mint."

The twin snakes pulled back, enraged at its new target, but Dante wasn't gonna make this easy for the demon. At the last possible second, the son of Sparda delivered a roundhouse kick to the black head, further pissing it off more. The overgrown bird saw its reptilian brethren in trouble as the Nevermore decided to aid the Taijitu by firing off its feathers as projectiles. Dante saw the swarm coming at him and gracefully dodged all but the last one, which he blocked with his _bare hands_. He then grabbed the deflected feather and tossed it back at the Nevermore, aiming it so it narrowly missed its head. That was enough to redirect all attention on him.

Ruby, starring in awe, was knocked out of her trance as Yang grabbed her by the hood. "Get the lead out, move!"

The sudden action was enough to make the red hooded huntress ignore her elder, as she ran towards Dante instead. "RUBY!"

The human firecracker was met up with Weiss and Blake for they both heard her shout. "What's going on?" asked Blake.

"She's gonna get herself killed!"

Weiss, naturally, objected to this. "Not if I can stop it!" The heiress then angrily clutched the hilt of Myrtnaster as she made a mad dash towards her bumbling partner.

Meanwhile, Dante was just prepared to take down the Taijitu, having Kalina Ann equipped, he was just prepared to send a Hysterical amount of rockets at the snake. Unfortunately, his concentration was broken when a certain red-petal streak forced him to redirect the rockets upwards, exploding in the air like fireworks. "Hey! I had 'im!"

"And I'm helping!" Ruby shouted. The red-cloaked huntress fired off several rounds to the snake's heads from her sweetheart in Sniper Mode, before transforming it into a scythe to slash it. It ended badly for her as the thick scales negated some of the damage, leaving Ruby open to a counter from the twin-headed snake.

 _WHAM!_

Ruby was flying towards the ground, but was able to get back on her feet after a few seconds.

 _ **SKRAWK!**_

Ruby looked up to see the Nevermore still flying, and quickly went wide-eyed as the bird threw multiple feathers at her direction. The young rose ran away from the razer projectiles, only to be shagged when one of the feathers pierced her cape, leaving her defenseless on the ground. She tried to pull out her cape, but to no avail, making her easy prey to the Taijitu, still wanting to blow some steam. It was at that moment Ruby stared into the face of death, frozen with fear, unable to live her life to the fullest.

" _RUBY!"_

 _WOOSH!_

…

"You are so _childish!_ "

The helpless huntress looked upwards to find herself in a dome of ice, courtesy of her partner, Weiss Schnee.

" _And_ dim-witted," ouch. " _and_ hyperactive," Ouch. " _and_ don't even get me started on your fighting style." _Ouch._ "And I suppose I can be a bit... _difficult_... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if _you_ quit trying to show off, I'll be... _nicer_."

Ruby felt the weight on her cloak being lifted, seeing Yang pulling the feather out from the ground, before being tackled by her sister's warm embrace. "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again!"

Ruby gently pulled away from her sister's death grip before apologizing, after which, she turned to Weiss after hearing her out. "I'm not trying to show off, Weiss. I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine." The Ice Queen scoffed before walking away.

"Also," the three turned to see Dante, still pretty upset at Ruby for rushing in front of him. "Next time, don't cut in line. That's my shtick."

It was then, Yang's partner showed up to the scene. "If you're all done making up, we got bigger snakes to fry." She used Gambol Shroud to point at the King Taijitu, about to break free from the ice.

It was then the devil hunter pulled out two blades colored red and blue, dubbed Agni and Rudra respectively. He scrapped the two swords together, creating a spark of fire that ignited the twins and melted the ice. "Watch and learn, kiddos!"

* * *

To be honest, Pyrrha felt bad about leaving behind the rest to fight the two deadly Grimm on their own. Jaune did so as well, as he was about to cross some ancient structures when he heard some explosions in the sky, follow by some screams of fear. "We're going back." The blond stated.

"Jaune, we're too far away," The pink lotus, Ren, spoke. "We'll never make it!"

Despite him being right, Jaune couldn't give up. Just because he doesn't want to feel helpless doesn't mean he wants others to feel the same way. Unbeknownst to them, the hammer girl, Nora, had an idea to fast travel there, but one they won't like very much…

* * *

 **[Music: Devils Never Cry ( _Devil May Cry 3 OST_ )]**

The son of Sparda rushed up to the black side and performed a series of midair slashes that looked like some kind of Skydance. He then crashed downwards in spinning slam that managed to burned some of the scales of the terrifying snake. Yang then launched herself upwards, delivering a satisfying hook across the burning face, while Blake used her rope to bind down the white segment, allowing Ruby and Weiss to get a free shot at it with their weapons. Their finale was interrupted when the Nevermore circled back, firing its feathers once more, forcing the team to scramble. Dante was about to use Spiral to shoot down a wing when the sound of a loud _BOOM_ caught his attention. That and the sounds of people screaming. Turning back, he sees the blonde and his friends from earlier, soaring through the sky, with the ginger riding on her hammer…

It's official, these guys are his new best friends.

The three kids landed on the ground rather harshly, while the hammer girl was _just_ above them for the sole purpose of smashing one of the heads with a swing of her hammer. The resulting impact lead to the ivory head being _smashed flat_ causing the dark side to scream in agony. It was handicapped, but not out yet. The one-sided Taijitu lunged at Nora, who was also avoiding razer-feathers being launched at the recovering team. Ruby had enough at that bird so she decided to take a shot at it.

 _BLAM!_

The red reaper grinned in satisfaction as the bullet hit its mark, attracting the attention of the grown Nevermore. "HEY, OVER HERE!"

The Nevermore complied to the young Rose's pleads, as it began to chase after the girl. Weiss, Blake and Yang took notice at this, as they chased after Ruby, not wanting anything bad happening to her, leaving Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren and Dante to finish off the weakened Taijitu. Not that it mattered, as the devil hunter pulled out Rebellion after helping the rest of the kids onto their feet. "You guys ready?" Dante asked.

Everyone took their fighting stance… except Jaune. "Wait, like, right now?"

"BREAK!" Ren ran up to the last head with Nora following behind. Using his aura, he was able to hold off the attacking head long enough for Nora to strike it upwards, leaving its underbelly exposed. Seeing the soft spot made Jaune think of something that might put it down for good. "Pyrrha, can you throw?"

The champion was confused by this question, yet answered anyways. "Well, yes, but-"

"How about you... uh…"

"Dante, and pretty good if I say so myself."

"Then on my mark, throw it at the belly!" It was that point the two sword masters saw the approach Jaune was getting at, and readied themselves to attack, Pyrrha having Miló in sword form, while Dante casually gripped the handle of his broadsword.

Ren apparently found out about the plan, as he signaled Nora to back off from the Taijitu, giving Pyrrha and Dante a clearer target. As the two backed off, Jaune signaled the two launchers to fire off their weapons. To their joy, the swords pierced through, leaving to fatal holes in the underside. They all stood in triumph as the once deadly Grimm was now evaporating into the open air. When the dust settled, the demon hunter ran off to assist the girls, only stopping in amazement when he saw Ruby _dragging the Nevermore up the cliff, decapitating it at the top_.

 _Alright, where do I enroll?_

* * *

 **[Music: Mission Start (** _ **Devil May Cry 2 OST**_ **)]**

Ozpin watched in awe as he saw the aftermath of the now decided RWBY and JNPR's battle. "You must admit, Glynda, they have great synergy together."

The woman, Glynda, ignored the Headmaster's comment. "Sorry, I was just trying to wrap my head around that red-coated man that appeared out of nowhere. He was not in the initiation line up this morning nor the day before."

The wizard gave a glance at his associate before thinking of an appropriate topic relating to the man who showed up in the Emerald Forrest last night. "Glynda. What do you know about the legend of Sparda?"

The witch turned to Ozpin, knowing exactly where this conversation is heading. "Ozpin, are you implying that this man is _the_ Sparda?"

"Well, yes and no. As you may recall, Sparda was married to a human, and together, they raised a family."

"So he's the son of the Legendary Dark Knight?"

"One of them, yes. Sparda had twins, and if one's here, then chances are, his other is here as well." Ozpin exited out of the cams before messaging a man named 'Qrow'. "I'm telling Qrow to be on the lookout for the second son of Sparda. If _they_ get to him first… I fear the results would be catastrophic."

* * *

 **[Music: Mission Start 1 (** _ **Devil May Cry 3 OST**_ **)]**

Vergil never imagined he'd be in hell this early.

No, this isn't hell. The atmosphere is different than the one on Earth. From what the blue-coated demon had gathered, he was on another world, one where demons have been replaced by these creatures known as 'Grimm', and that huntsman and huntresses are the ones responsible for keeping them in check. From the looks of it, it looks like this is the Grimm's birthplace.

"I just realize something." Vergil stopped dead in his tracts upon hearing Cinder spoke. "You never told me your name. I gave you mine, it's only common courtesy that you reply with your own."

The Darkslayer wasn't the most sociable of people, but even he introduced himself to those he deemed necessary to his goal. "Vergil."

The Fall(se) Maiden took a second to process his identity before smiling. "I like it."

The two continued before they encountered a large double-door of marble white. Cinder paused to collect her thoughts before opening it, revealing a large meeting table with three other people sitting in it. _A scientist, an animal, and a psycho. Typical._

"And the lady arrives with her one-night stand." Quipped the scientist.

Cinder didn't take this well as her eyes faintly glowed with deadly fire. "A pleasure meeting you too, _Watts._ " She spat with venom as she took her seat.

"I am curious, why the new face? Tired of your old posse?"

"I'd like to consider it as… getting some extra reassurance."

 _SLAM_

 **[Music: Sparda's Image (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

Everyone at the table stood up (save for Vergil) as the Mistress of Darkness, Salem, entered the room. She turned towards Cinder, the one who called for the meeting in the first place. "I assume you have a valuable reason for calling us, Cinder?"

Cinder put on her brave face in the presence of her master. "Yes. I have found someone who could be a valuable asset to our cause. I have seen what he is capable of, so let me be the one to introduce you to our latest ally: Vergil."

As soon as he heard his name, Vergil made himself visible in front of Salem. His silver hair and blue eyes were the first thing she took notice, until she remembered the reason behind her downfall.

Before her very eyes, Salem swore she saw the silhouette of a humanoid scarab demon flashing in and out. The Grimm Queen fearfully stepped back from the half-demon, eyes full of fear from his presence.

 _No…_

 _No._

 _No!_

" _NO!"_ In a vengeful rage, Salem extended both of her hands, black tendrils extending from her palms directed at Vergil. Her efforts were fruitless as he used Yamato to slice her whips in a blink of an eye, before tearing her in half in with a single stroke, black blood splurging out of her as she crashed onto her own floor. Everyone rose out of their chairs as they saw their mistress lied on the floor in two, before slowly turning their heads towards the Son of Sparda in pure fear.

Then they heard the sounds of black tendrils moving.

Everyone turned back to Salem, seeing the tendrils connect the two halves together as the witch roared in pain and frustration, every rope of her flesh forging around the fatal strike. She climbed up onto her table, slamming her palms with enough force to crack the tabletop, red eyes filled with rage as she redirected her fury towards the one who lead Vergil to her. Cinder tried to run but was frozen in fear by what she witnessed, giving Salem the time she needed to get a hard grip around her neck, slamming and dragging her body across the table as she was brought before her leader's face. _"YOU DARE BRING A SPARDA? **IN MY REALM?"**_

All eyes were on Cinder, desperately trying to beg for mercy despite having her air blocked off. She would've died then and there had Vergil not intervened. "In her defense, she had just learned my name. Yet the way she responded seemed like she had no idea of my heritage." The son of Sparda turned to the Grimm Queen in the eyes. "But I am curious though. In all the tales I have read about my father, never did I found out about your existence until now. So I ask of you, what did Sparda ever do to you?"

Salem harshly threw Cinder on the cold, hard floor in response to Vergil's question. "What did he do? _What did he DO? YOUR FATHER WAS THE REASON WHY I'M STUCK HERE!_ _ **HE**_ _GAVE THEM AURA,_ _ **HE**_ _GAVE THEM DUST, BUT MOST DAMNING OF ALL,_ _ **HE GAVE THEM HOPE!**_ And now that _**you're**_ here, I bet you're going to finish the job, huh? There's no way Cinder wouldn't know about _**you**_ unless _**you**_ mind-wiped her, making it easier to trust _**you**_ so _**you**_ could kill me, is that it?"

The blue demon couldn't help but pinch his nose after hearing Salem's idiotic accusations, especially since this being cannot be slain by traditional means. "Cinder said you could help me, and frankly, I could care less about your grudge against Sparda. All I just want is his power. Nothing more, nothing less."

Despite hearing his disinterest in killing the Grimm, Salem still hesitantly approached the half-bred with a compromise. "Very well then. I'll help you. But know this: If you dare try to betray me at any time, _I. Will._ _ **End you.**_ "

Despite her murderous presence, Vergil remained unfazed by her threat. "As I said before, I have no intentions of stopping you." He shook Salem's hand in agreement before pulling out an amulet with a red gemstone in the center. "In order for me to reclaim my father's power, I'll need a portal to hell. _My_ hell, mind you. As well as the other half of this amulet carried by my brother, Dante. I theorized he is here on this world with me, but in a different location."

"Wait, brother? _**THERE ARE TWO SONS OF SPARDA?**_ "

The demon raised his palm to silence anyone else from speaking. "Like it or not, he's here as well, but unlike me, he won't hesitate to kill anyone of you who poses as a threat to him. I highly advise against taking him head on. He's a formidable fighter armed with all sorts of Devil Arms. Any one of you _will_ die. That's why I'll be the one to face him, no one else."

Hearing that they now have a Sparda on their team eased Salem's tensions, even more so knowing that Vergil will be the one to take care of the one named Dante. "Then it's settled. Cinder, get up, you still have operations to oversee in Vale. Watts, continue aiding the White Fang in smuggling Atlas tech into their ranks. Tyrian, continue the search for the Spring Maiden. Hazel, continue to rise the ranks of the White Fang. The higher the connections, the easier it will be to control them. And Vergil, find Dante, but bring him to me. I deserve one good thing in my life, and having a Sparda die by my hand will do just fine. Fail to comply, and you could always take his place."

 **[Music: Fear – Disturbed]**

The black cloak surrounding the Dark Empress surrounded her completely before fading away into nothing. The members began to leave the room save for Cinder and Vergil, one of which was just regaining her strength. "Vergil," Cinder called out. "Is it true? Are you really Sparda's child?"

Vergil said nothing, having decided to leave, making Cinder alone with her thoughts as her eyes began to flare a light fire with a grin on her face. _Then it is true, he really is the son of the Legendary Dark Knight. This just got more interesting_.

* * *

 **[Music: Blue Orgasm (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the gold rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR."

The four students of Beacon stood tall in the center of the auditorium, with the elder students cheering and clapping in congratulating the new freshmen as they were passed with Ozpin's word.

"Led by… Jaune Arc!"

The blonde swordsman stumbled and froze upon hearing the news that he, of all people, was crowned leader, despite the rest of his team looking proud of his achievement.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the gold knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

The audience once again cheered the newly formed team, despite Weiss lacking their enthusiasm. Ruby was shocked too, but because like Jaune, she never expected to be put in such a position, especially at a young age.

 **[Music: Pillow Talk Again (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

As Yang bear-hugged her sister, Ozpin turned to the familiar red-coated demon hunter we all know and love, chilling just behind the stage. "I'll admit, I was not expecting your arrival, son of Sparda."

Dante was left speechless at his remark. "You knew my dad?'

"We were… close, you could say, during Remnant's humble beginnings. But Sparda is not what I'm here to talk to you about. See, I managed to pull some strings here and there, and, well, long story short…" Ozpin gave the young devil hunter a male uniform, custom tailored to his size. "Welcome to Beacon Academy, Dante Sparda."

Dante couldn't help but smile at the news. "Never in my life have I ever been excited to go to school! But why me?"

"I've seen the way you fight ever since you came to our world last night, and I can safely say you have all the qualities of a true huntsman, even if your methods are a bit… unorthodox."

The devil hunter smirked at his response, "Fair enough, but where will I sleep and will this cost me anything?"

"Do not worry about dues. All of the basic necessities are covered by the school assuming you upheld your duties as a student. As for where you'll be staying…" Ozpin took an aside glance to RWBY, then back to Dante. "Surely, they won't mind one more."

And just like that, Dante ran off to be a part of his new team. While Ozpin was content with his decision, Glynda couldn't help but feel worried in all of this. "Ozpin," Glynda called out. "Is this really necessary?"

"Glynda. As you know, I have made more mistakes than anyone else throughout the history of Remnant. Enlisting Dante and Ruby, and making Ruby and Jaune leaders of their respective teams are not one of them." Ozpin took one swig from his coffee mug. "I have trust in their abilities, perhaps they can be the one to finally liberate our world from the Grimm."

The headmaster and his assistant took a look at new team of five, with Dante getting in a group hug with Ruby and Yang while Weiss looks discontent with it all. "Heh, it looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **(Insert scene regarding Roman)**

 **Also, you might've noticed that I skipped over the fight scene between RWBY and the Nevermore. That's because, unlike JNPR(D) vs King Taijitu, nothing really changes. Hence, I left it out.**

 **Now excuse me, I'm gonna rest. Mission three might take a while. Happy Thanksgiving.**


	3. Mission 3: Everybody Have Fun Tonight

**To everyone reading this AN, I'm sorry. It shouldn't take me until the border of 2017 to post a new chapter. But, like with everything else, life happens. To be more specific: Exams, Christmas, backlogs pilling up, _Dokkan Battle_ , _Rogue One_ , _Titanfall 2_ , I just got _Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne_ , my uncle and cousin coming to visit, that kind of stuff.**

 **Also, I wanted to try some fluff (for the most part), so that also extended creation time. I hope I did it well.**

* * *

 **UPDATE: 1/26/2019: Changed a line in Vergil's section to make it seem less like he wants to kill Dante.**

* * *

 ** _MISSION 3:_**

 ** _Everybody Have Fun Tonight_**

 _A night of celebration for a day of victory_

 ** _MISSION START_**

* * *

"To our next four years in Beacon!"

 _KLANK_

The newly-formed RWBY (Featuring Dante) all raised their sodas high, cheering upon their newfound studentship at Beacon. Weiss was a special case, however. She was excited, yes, but not as much as the others. Hell, _Blake_ showed a little bit more emotion than normal. Who knows, maybe she's still salty over not being chosen leader (despite feeling like she had the qualifications to be one), or maybe it's because of how she ended up in this joint to begin with.

 _ **Earlier…**_

"Oh, c'mon, Weiss! We passed the initiation, we should celebrate!" The young leader tried to reason with her stingy teammate.

"Yeah, sure, let's ignore how we have classes first thing tomorrow and just goof off for the rest of the night. Surly _that_ won't backfire on us during first period!" Too be fair, she had a point.

"Let me remind you that there's a reason Monty gave us coffee." At that point, Yang spoke up, and she's right in that regard. "Besides, like sis said, we kicked ass! What's stopping us from patting ourselves on the back?"

"That's not- Blake! Back me up here!"

To the Ice Queen's disappointment, the ninja had this to say: "Where would we even go to celebrate?"

As the Rose-Xiao Long sisters pondered, they were saved by a certain white-haired demon hunter. "That depends, what does it take to get good pizza here?"

 _ **Back to the present…**_

The Heiress sighed as she recalled how the team vetoed her 4 to 1, and if that wasn't enough, JNPR had to be here as well (In all honesty, Nora invited themselves over, Jaune rolled with it and said it would be a "great teambuilding exercise."). And so here she was, stuck in a pizza parlor no Schnee would be caught dead in, surrounded with the most unsophisticated people any aristocrat would look over.

Except Pyrrha and Ren. They actually have manners.

Meanwhile, Dante held his promise to Ruby earlier today about telling her about his misadventures, only this time, BY and JNPR was around to hear the tale. "So I go up to this firestorm chamber, and I was stopped by two living swords arguing on how they should make my stay worthwhile," he recalled over a slice of pizza, some giggling much to his annoyance. "Oh, you think that's hilarious, don't you?"

"I'm sure it wasn't _that_ bad," argued Pyrrha.

"Oh really? Try holding on to that as you hear one of them try to explain what a SIGH is to the other!" The champion raised her finger in protest, only to slowly bring it down when she couldn't think of anything to say. "Right. So, as I was saying; I yelled at them, 'Let me make it out to you. Your guest wants to go through!' Needless to say, they weren't backing up without a fight."

Nora, with eyes of wonder, had this to ask: "Did you win?"

"Wouldn't be here if I didn't!"

"Fair enough," Yang spoke up. "But what happened to the two swords?"

"You saw me burn the snake's head with those things, did ya?"

It was true, Yang did recall seeing swords of wind and fire ignite during initiation. She thought they were awesome, but one thing did bother her as she heard the tale of Dante. "Sooooo, why didn't they talk?"

"We had an agreement. I take them along for the ride, in exchange for the sweet sound of silence."

"That seems unnecessarily cruel."

"Nah, they really don't mind. Not to mention that I actually do strike conversations with them whenever I get bored walking around the Temin-Ni-Gru." Dante admitted.

While she wasn't one-hundred percent with his answer, it was at least better than nothing. "Alright, so what happened next?"

After a bite of pizza, Dante continued, "Alright, so after that…"

Weiss ended up drowning out his tale while picking at the toppings of her pizza, an act that didn't go unnoticed by the devil hunter himself. With a wave of his finger, Dante putted his story on hold as he went over to the resident Ice Queen. "Something eating you?"

The heiress shot up upon hearing his voice, "What? Oh… hey, Dante."

"Pizza not good enough for you?"

"N-No, the pizza's fine."

 _Liar_ "Must be good if you didn't take a single bite."

Weiss took a glance at both Dante and the pizza. "Ah… must not be that hungry then."

"It's about the team, isn't it?" _Am I that obvious?_ "How you're not leader?"

 _Well, no point hiding it,_ Weiss thought. "It's just that… I have been preparing my whole life for something like this. Trained under the most skilled fighters, taught by the highest ranking scholars, and yet someone two years younger than me easily obtained what I've been trained to do. It's just not fair."

"Have you tried letting it go?" Dante suggested.

"That's just it. I can't."

The red-coated demon pondered for a bit before speaking. "Hey, at least your name is second on the team name!"

"A reminder that I'll always be second best." Weiss gloomily replied.

"Oh really? Says who?"

"My dad."

 _Wow, this is starting to get depressing,_ Dante realized. _Better find a way to liven up the mood, and fast._

With a snap of his fingers, Dante got out of his chair and into the back, much to everyone's confusion. After a few minutes of no Dante, the light's dimmed, save for the ones focused on the open floor in the center of the restaurant. And then the beat came.

 **[Music: Everybody Have Fun Tonight – Wang Chung]**

The sound of boots contacting the ground was still heard as the familiar red coat flowed behind the half-demon. With a mic in hand, he has this to ask: "Are you ready to have fun tonight?"

The response was a store-wide cheer of excitement, most notably from R_BY and JNPR. Even if she didn't show any interest right away, Weiss was at least curious to see where this goes. As the people gathered on the floor to dance, Dante got up on the stage, microphone still in hand.

" _I'll drive a million miles_

 _To be with you tonight_

 _So if you're feeling low_

 _Turn up your radio_

 _The words we use are strong_

 _They make reality_

 _But now the music's on_

 _Oh baby dance with me yeah._ "

As his voice vibrated throughout the pizzeria, the crowd started to dance ecstatically. While Ruby and her team alongside Jaune's got down to the floor to dance, Weiss and Blake stayed back, but that didn't stop them from subconsciously tapping her foot to the beat.

" _Rip it up_

 _Move down_

 _Rip it up_

 _Move it down to the ground_

 _Rip it up_

 _Cool down_

 _Rip it up_

 _And get the feeling not the word._ "

It was a like a game of Simon Says. Every time the song told them to get up or get down, the dancers would comply, even Dante would do so as a demonstration.

" _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun._ "

It was at that point the normally stoic Blake decided to get up and join the group on the floor. Seeing how he only had one more to convince, Dante leapt onto the dance floor, ready to bust some moves as the song continued behind him.

" _Deep_ _in the world tonight_

 _Our hearts beat safe and sound_

 _I'll hold you so close_

 _Just let yourself go down._ "

Ruby and Yang danced like clockwork, all of their moves flowing seamlessly, even after Blake stepped in the middle of their routine.

" _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun._ "

For a hyperactive teen, Nora's dancing was very refined, much to Ren's surprise. Meanwhile, one could easily see the blush on Pyrrha's face as Jaune danced very adorkably.

" _On the edge of oblivion_

 _All the world is Babylon_

 _And all the love and everyone_

 _A ship of fools sailing on._ "

After what seemed like an eternity, Weiss was finally seen on the floor with everyone else, grooving with the beat. _Mission accomplished_ , Dante thought humorously.

" _Across the nation_

 _Around the world_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _A celebration so spread the word._ "

Dante and the others were caught off-guard by the angelic singing voice that belonged to the heiress as she danced without a care in the world, almost as if a fun-loving doppelgänger had taken her place.

" _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun tonight_

 _Everybody Wang Chung tonight_

 _Everybody have fun_."

As the song faded out, the people cheered at the performance by RWBY(D) and JNPR. The two teams walked out of the restaurant with glee, only for Dante to be stopped by one of the waiters. "Excuse me, sir, but who's paying for the food, not to mention the entertainment?"

The half-demon slapped his forehead out of stupidity for forgetting the bill that always comes after. "You see that white-haired girl that was with us?" A nod was given in confirmation. "Just put it on her tab."

* * *

"I can't believe we just did that!" The young Rose exclaimed in a positive light.

"I still can't get over how amazing Weiss' voice is!" The Arc threw his two cents in.

"Yeah," Yang agreed, "Out of everything that has happened, I think the Ice Queen letting loose was the one thing no one expected."

"It's not like I actually enjoyed it!" Weiss tried to defend herself from praise. "I… just got lost in the moment, that's all!"

Everyone found it adorable on how Weiss tried to deny any evidence of her having a good time as they were walking down the street to take an airship back to Beacon. As much as they didn't want to, they didn't want to risk being late to their first class. Meanwhile, Dante was walking with them with an obvious smug all over his face. _Welp, new friends, new city, even with all these "Grimm" demons running amok, it's at least my job's not too far off from home!_

 _Home…_

Now there's something Dante dreaded to think about. Not that he hated his old turf, but it was more along the lines of 'how do I get back'. Even if he found Vergil, even if he managed to convince him to use the amulet for a way back, will it even work? And say he didn't go after Vergil, or he ended up in another world, different from this one, what then? Would he be stuck here forever?

Dante hated thinking and solving tough life questions, and this was no different. He was glad that they were going back to the dorms, and that his friends were pre-occupied with the dance number back at the pizzeria to talk to him. After all, it's better for everyone if they didn't see the disappeared smile, right?

* * *

Back at the dorms of Beacon Academy, the clocks read 12:00 AM, and unfortunately for Ruby, the moon light was shining directly on her. Didn't matter, since she was about to get up for a late night potty break anyways.

As she got out, she noticed that a sleeping bag on the floor, the one Ozpin gave to Dante so he can have something to sleep in for the time being, was empty. Furthermore, the window was open, evidenced by the wind blowing on the curtains. So, naturally, the young leader slipped out in attempt to find her teammate.

After narrowly side-stepping the sides of the building, Ruby found herself on the roof, spotting the devil hunter looking at the night sky while holding some kind of necklace in his hand. She climbed up onto solid ground and walked up to the devil in red. "Hey, Dante," she called out.

"Wha?" Turning around, Dante saw the little red huntress looking straight at him. "Oh, hey, Rubes."

"What are you doing up?"

With a shrug, Dante replied, "Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Just wanted to check up on you, that's all."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me," the devil hunter dismissed. "Just go back to sleep."

Ruby would've taken his advice and return to bed, but it didn't take long for her to sense an aura of insecurity around the half-demon, which was very odd to her. Dante introduced himself as a bit of a badass who shoots first and asks questions later, and even if he seems a bit hard-headed, he's almost as caring as her big sister, Yang. Seeing him deep in thought with an expression that borderlines vulnerable was almost depressing, really.

So, naturally, Ruby went over and sat next to the otherworldly hunter. "Alright, what's wrong? What's with that necklace-thingy?"

Ruby could tell that the necklace was a soft-spot for him, seeing how he clutched it harder upon hearing that. Dante just wanted to tell her off so she could go to sleep, but then again, this is the same Ruby that charged head first into the Snake demon. Seeing how there's no point in turning her away, the devil hunter signaled the young rose to sit next to him.

It was kind of hard for him to do, but Dante forced himself to show her the necklace. Connected to it was a silver amulet with a red gemstone carved into it. "My mother gave this to me, back when I was a kid."

Ruby grew wide-eyed upon hearing that. There's no doubt something must've happened to her, having lost one herself, yet she couldn't help but ask, "What was she like?"

Dante mentally kicked himself, knowing she would ask that. But he only had himself to blame for bringing it up. So, naturally, he answered.

 **[Music: Eva's Theme (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

"She… was probably one of the greatest women who ever lived. She was always there for me and my brother, especially since my dad up and bailed. Legendary Dark Knight, after all. Sometimes, we would go out and gaze at the stars on nights like this, always relaxing in my book."

The fact that he had a brother became intriguing to the young rose. "You have a brother?"

Again, Dante cursed himself. After all, Vergil was as sensitive a topic as his mother. "Yeah," the devil hunter spoke, "I had a brother. I just… don't talk about him much."

"Can you tell me why?"

 _Sigh…_ "It was after our 10th birthday. Everyone was sound asleep at that point. All of a sudden, we heard a _crash_. My mom burst into our room, telling us to hide far away from here. And we hid, alright. We just wish we hid somewhere in the forest like she said. Instead, we just had a front-row seat to her death. She held them off, blasted a good chunk of them with her trusty shotgun, but it was too much for her. By the time I processed what just happened, Vergil just… snapped. He grabbed a sword and started hacking away at the demons. At that point, I took my brother and ran, not wanting to see him dead too. He… didn't take it too well. Started blaming everyone for mom's death, even calling himself weak. Didn't see him since… until a year ago where he showed up out of nowhere before disappearing again. Then came the Temin-Ni-Gru, and…" Dante took one last look at the amulet before stuffing it back into his pocket. "you know the rest."

When he turned to Ruby, she was already teary-eyed, cleaning her eyes with her own hand. "I'm sorry to hear about that. My mom died to the Grimm as well. She went on a mission… and only her hood came back."

The son of Sparda patted his leader's head out of sympathy, "Sorry to hear about that. Also, don't be, there was nothing I could've done, not at my age."

Ruby knew that it was for the best to leave Dante alone for the time being, so she got up and went back to bed, but not before giving her goodbyes. "Just come back to bed whenever you feel like it, okay?"

While the brooding demon heard her, he didn't respond, choosing instead to look up at the night sky as Ruby made her leave. Talking about Vergil made him worry about what he has planned if he is on Remnant, because knowing him, he would ruin as many lives as necessary to achieve his goal. _Where are you, Vergil?_

* * *

He didn't want to admit it, but Vergil had an easier time working with Arkham than he ever will collaborating with Salem and her forces. He wanted to show her that he was the one in control, but chances are, there exists a spell or artifact that only she can access that might allow him to return to Earth, more specifically, Earth's Hell.

 _ROAR!_

 _SLASH!_

In hindsight, it was a good thing he brought up Dante. Despite knowing his capabilities, there was the off-chance that they could discover the amulet for themselves, maybe possibly hide it from him until it's too late, and he _needs_ that amulet to acquire the power of Sparda.

 _GRRRAH!_

 _SLASH!_

Speaking of Dante…

" _I deserve one good thing in my life, and having a Sparda die by my hand will do just fine. Fail to comply, and you could always take his place."_

Salem's a fool if she thinks he's just going to turn in Dante's defenseless body for her own amusement. That alone is an insult on itself to the Sparda honor. If Dante dies, it wouldn't be without a fight.

 _RAH!_

 _SLASH!_

And that's not going in to the fact that the Grimm are still targeting him, even in this dense forest. Either this was a pathetic excuse to keep the Darkslayer in line, or it was Salem's way of monitoring him. Either way, she's exhausting her resources.

 _WOOSH!_

 _What was that?_ Vergil thought to himself. He focused his senses for anyone that tries to foolishly challenge him.

 _SHING!_

CLANG!

The son of Sparda effortlessly blocked his attacker's blade with his own. Sparks flying near their faces as the two swords scrapped against each other. With on push, both fighters were on opposite sides of the area, katanas in hand. Vergil used this as the chance to analyze his opponent.

A woman, roughly as tall as himself, with ruffled, feather-like, raven hair. Her attire seems to be inspired by the samurai warriors of ancient Japan, the only thing out of place was the mask, which covered her face completely. The assailant didn't carry any firearms, but her sword can change properties, judging from the crystals within her sheath. _Perhaps this one can give me a challenge_.

 **[Music: X-Squad (** _ **Mortal Kombat Annihilation OST**_ **)]**

The samurai wasted no time on trying to take down the Sparda, charging headfirst ready to slash, only to find that her target sidestepped out of the way. She threw a couple more strikes at him but to no avail, as the Darkslayer parried the last attack, leaving her wide open to an Upper Slash courtesy of Yamato.

The attack sent the woman skidding across the floor, but she got up, ready to retaliate. Like before, she ran towards Vergil, only to twist herself behind him, drawing her red blade in the process. To her surprise, Vergil saw that one coming, as Yamato, once again, blocked her attack. The katana was brushed to the side leaving the assailant unable to block a roundhouse kick to her side.

Dissatisfied with her performance, the half-demon followed up with a few smacks from his sheath, continuing with a barrage of slashes from the uncovered katana. Even after all that, the human got up, still wanting to finish him off. She clutched the hilt of her blade with both hands rather than the one she has been using the whole time, as she was prepared to pierce the demon in her sights. The blade was blocked by Beowulf, which Vergil summoned in a blink of an eye. With just the gauntlets and grieves, the Darkslayer was able to block each and every one of her attacks, throwing punches and kicks here and there whenever the opening was obvious.

It was at that point the woman threw all signs of caution out the window in exchange for pure fury. She wanted any associate of Salem dead no matter the cost. Such a decision was foolish, as Vergil was able to see through all of her mistakes in combat. In a formulaic pattern, every reckless attack was countered immediately from a slash from Yamato, or a punch from Beowulf, until Vergil was able to lock and disarm the assailant's blade, causing it to land on the ground, the blade embedded within the ground.

Vergil could've ended the fight right there, but insisted on having his opponent retrieve her sword without interference. Rather than doing so, the woman threw a punch instead, a punch intercepted by Beowulf, before the Darkslayer delivered a powerful punch to the face, shattering the mask completely.

The woman skidded across the floor harshly, stopping with her head near the grounded katana. As the assailant got back up, finally picking up her sword, Vergil saw her face in clarity. Middle-aged, no doubt the face of a mother, with eyes of blood red filled with rage. Regardless of which, she attacked first, and the son of Sparda was ready to put her back in her place. He channeled his demonic energy into Yamato, before slashing at an invisible speed. It didn't take long for the samurai to realize that she was the target of a condensed field of strikes, so she quickly shielded herself with an ominous red aura that she used to reflect the attack in one burst.

Vergil was honestly surprised at such a feat. "I'm impressed," he spoke at last, "Not a single human can counter-act a Judgement Cut, let alone live." Unfortunately for the woman, he wasn't done yet. "But I'm afraid your luck has run out."

In an instant, swords of pure energy appeared in two pairs of four on each side of Vergil, all of them pointed at his opponent. They flew off, one by one, at a moment's notice, giving the samurai a split second to dodge all of them. The only sword she couldn't evade was Yamato, which pierced her side as she dodged the last of the Summoned Swords. The wound wasn't fatal, as Vergil intended, but it was enough to keep her from moving.

 **[Music ends]**

In one quick motion, the half-demon removed his sword from her body, causing her to flinch heavily in pain as she slumped on her knees. She tried her best to win, but it wasn't enough, and now, she was at his mercy. But she couldn't die here, not now.

Just as Vergil was about to finish off the woman, she used the last of her strength to transform into a flurry of feathers that passed right under him. Looking back, the devil saw that she had disappeared, much to his disappointment. _Run all you want. You are only delaying the inevitable. But then again… perhaps you could see this as another chance to redeem yourself._

* * *

 **[Music: Anakin's Dark Deeds – John Williams] [Start at 2:14]**

 _Why did I DO that?_ This was the question infinitely replaying within the mind of Raven Branwen. She was there when she saw the son of Sparda come in contact with the one named Cinder Fall. She was quick to write both of them off as associates of the Dark Witch Salem, seeing how one of them had access to her magic. So, naturally, she decided it was best that she would be the one to kill at least one of them.

But alas, she should've knew better than to challenge the son of Sparda.

As she retreated through the forest, another shock of pain roared through her body. In response, she clutched the open wound harder. Despite what's left of her aura doing its best to heal the stab, blood was still seeping onto her hand.

A brush from her free hand signaled that her face was also wet, not from the sweat, but from the tears that managed to escape through her eyes. Raven was always one of the toughest fighters to come out of Beacon, being able to best even Glynda. But when you're living the mentality that only the strong deserve to live, that is to be expected. She came back to her clan with newfound strength, something she intended to use to lead her comrades to victory regardless of the cost. So what do you do when someone stronger than you take the very thing your pride is based off?

Everyone might be able to forgive her for her actions, but Raven knew in the back of her head that no one will forgive her for soiling the tribe's honor, a bigger offence since _she_ was leading them, not to mention that she ran rather than accepting defeat.

That though alone was enough to let the dam break loose. She can no longer go back. Where does she go to from here then?

"Raven?"

The sudden voice made the woman shot up, making contact with her brother, whom she hasn't seen in so long. "Qrow…" She weakly said.

Qrow starred down at her sister with a saddened look plastered on his face. Never in his life has he seen Raven so battered and injured. He crouched down to ask, "What happened?" in a worried tone.

The sister said nothing, letting her weakened appearance speak for itself. His brother didn't respond, only sticking his hand out, hoping that Raven would accept it, even after all these years.

With no other choice, the samurai used her free hand to grab his brother's. Qrow couldn't help but give a slight smile to her decision. "C'mon," he said, supporting his sister onto her feet. "Let's get you some help."

After so long, it looks like the Branwen twins are on the road to reunion.

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **And with that, comes the last chapter of 2016. It certainly was a crazy year, what with all the SJWs, Harambe, reboots all over the place, not to mention all the famous celebrities deciding to drop like flies for some reason, but it was alright. At least we got the Sonic Twitter account and RWBY Volume 4.**

 **Speaking of which, I should've waited till we know more about her before introducing her into the story like that, but, what's done is done.**

 **Happy New Years.**


	4. Mission 4: Throat Full Of Glass

**We have a shorty today. Sorry about that, just try to make the most of it.**

* * *

 _ **MISSION 4:**_

 _ **Throat Full Of Glass**_

 _Vulnerability exists within_

 ** _MISSION START_**

* * *

 **[Music: Divinity Statue (** _ **Devil May Cry 3 OST)**_ **]**

It was a beautiful morning in the city of Vale. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. People greeting each other with a friendly hello as they opened up their shops, ready to provide service for the day. Beacon Academy was no different, as teachers of various majors began organizing their notes for the first day of classes. Of course, not before their morning grind within the teachers' lounge, that is. The students themselves were also preparing for the first day, some of them dropping by the recently open cafeteria for some food, others were just organizing their supplies for their classes. And then we have those who just want a bit more extra time on their beauty sleep. Case in point, Weiss Schnee: The second member of the newly formed RWBY(D). Bright sun aside, the heiress was still sound asleep under the covers of the bed. Nothing could ruin this perfect morning.

 _TWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!_

" _GAH!"_

 **[Music abruptly halts]**

Nothing until now, that is.

"GOOOOOD MORNING, TEAM RWBY(D)!" Of course Ruby would be crazy enough to pull such a stunt.

"Ruby, what the hell?" Weiss appropriately stated.

That statement went by unnoticed as the perky leader continued without hesitation. "Now that you're awake, we can finally begin our first order of- "

 _ **SNORE**_

… "O…kay? As I was saying, we can finally begin our first order- "

 _ **SNORES LOUDER**_

… "Hmmm…" The young rose stopped to check if the noise would play again. Seeing how it didn't, Ruby continued, "Now that you're awake, we can- "

 _ **SNORES REALLY LOUDLY**_

"Okay, who keeps doing that?" Ruby got her response in the form of three fingers pointing at the occupied sleeping bag. _Dante..._ she thought. The rose menacingly clutched her whistle as she approached the sleeping devil hunter, ready to blow. She was about to play her tweet at point blank until she got thinking. Ruby had used loud noises to force her sister up on certain occasions back at Patch, and most of the time, ended with Yang narrowly missing her face. Dante was no doubt jumpier than her older sibling when it comes to that type of stuff. Pulling that stunt would probably end in

 _BANG_

…Let's just say a broken nose would be the least of her worries.

Instead, she got close to his ear to simply say: "They have breakfast pizza."

"YOU'RE LYING!" It didn't take long for Dante to realize he had just been played. Looking around, he saw Ruby, Blake and Yang in their school attire, while Weiss was still in bed in her night gown. _God damn it_ , he cursed internally. The devil hunter was about to roll back to bed had he not hear Ozpin's voice in his head.

" _All of the basic necessities will be covered by the school assuming you uphold your duties as a student."_

 _Double God damn it._ The son of Sparda forced himself up just to put on his uniform. Right in the middle of the room. With all of the girls there. The sight of Dante al la natural as he changed did not go unnoticed. _Oh, right, girls._ Turning around to the embarrassed teammates, he decided to have a bit of fun. "So, you girls enjoyed the show?"

No one said anything, as Ruby decided to quickly change the subject to what she wanted to talk about before. " _Ahem,_ now that we are all awake, we can officially begin our first order of business."

"And that would be…?" Asked the heiress.

"DECORATING!" Answered Yang.

"Unpacking!" Followed Blake, as her luggage popped open with her stuff falling onto the floor. "Cleaning!"

At that point, Ruby was standing on the bed in a heroic fashion, "Then it settled, our first mission as team RWBY(D) has begun…"

 _TWEEEEET!_

"NOW!" And like that, Ruby, Blake and Yang were making the same pose, tilting to the left at a 20-degree angle shouting "BANZAI!" Just about the only two people who didn't get it were Weiss and Dante, who only replied with a casual shrug.

Despite two of the five members were being nothing short of enthusiastic, the settling in part went off without a hitch. Ruby was able to clear out most of the dust bunnies that had occupied the dorm for some time, while Yang and Weiss hanged up some pics on the wall (An Achieve Men poster and a Forever Fall painting respectively). Blake was in the middle of organizing her book collection (which came to a screeching halt just so she could find someplace to put Ninjas of Love). Dante, realizing he was doing a whole lot of nothing, decided to be of some use and open the curtains… using Nevan.

 _SLASH!_

It went as well as you think.

After some time has passed, the team was finally finished with their room (complete with a repaired curtain). There was just one problem…

"Where are you guys gonna sleep?" The devil hunter asked.

RWBY took noticed of the pile of beds taking up space in the center when Blake asked "It is a bit cramped in here."

"We could ditch some of our stuff," suggested Yang.

"Or we could ditch the beds…" Ruby's idea definitely turned some heads. "And replace them with BUNKBEDS!"

As weird as that sounds, everyone couldn't help but agree to the idea. Everyone but Weiss, but she got overruled. So the team got moving on setting up the four beds. Dante was fine where he was, so there was no point adding a fifth. When the dust settled, the surprisingly stable bunkbeds were complete.

 **[Music: Mission Clear (** _ **Devil May Cry 3 OST**_ **)]**

In a fit of excitement, Ruby yelled, " **Mission cleared! Hunter Rank:** _ **S**_ **!** "

 **[Record scratch]** "What are you doing?" asked Dante.

"Sorry, got lost in the moment. Now, our next order is business IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS," One dramatic turnaround and a falling book later, "Classes." This incited a groan from Dante, which Ruby ignored. "Now, we have a few classes together. First off is Grimm Studies at 9 o'clock-"

"Wait," interrupted Weiss. "Did you just say '9 o'clock'?"

"Uh…"

"IT'S 8:50, YOU DUNCE!" Checking their scrolls to see if it was true, everyone was shocked on how much time they wasted on decorating the room alone. In a rush of speed, RWBY(D) burst through the doors to get to their first classes, with JNPR following shortly after.

* * *

"Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" The team wished they were late when Professor Peter Port began talking. The fat professor wasn't what you call the most interesting man in the world, and his speeches didn't help, either.

"And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." _Wink_.

 _Monty Oum, WHY?_ Groaned Yang as she dug her head deep within her palms.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!" Port continued. "That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

 _JFC, I would literally pay anyone to shoot me._ Dante hated people who loved the sound of their own voice more than anything, and Port was no different. _Thanks a lot, Arkham._ He can only tell things were gonna get worse before they get better.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" Dante shot up, pretending to look interested as the professor wrapped up his story, mostly because he smelt a demon nearby. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

 _Whatever it takes to shut him up_ thought Dante. "I'll take that bet!" He stated.

The fat man smiled at the gesture. "Ah, Optimism! One of the things I enjoy seeing in new students. Now, hurry into your combat attire, boy, so you may step forward, and face your opponent!"

Port stepped aside to reveal a metal cage with an agitated Boarbatusk inside, much to the surprise of many. Not wanting to miss this chance, Dante quickly went to the locker rooms to change into the red coat everyone knows him by. With Ebony & Ivory holstered and Rebellion shining brightly on his back, he made his way to the center stage for some fun.

"Go Dante!" Cheered Yang.

"Fight well!" Encouraged Blake, waving a small flag that said RWBY(D).

"Yeah!" Shouted Ruby, "Represent Team RWBY(D)!"

"Break a leg!" Said Weiss, much to Ruby's shock.

"Weiss, how could you say such a thing?"

"You dolt! Don't you know it's bad luck to wish someone 'good luck' in a performance?" Weiss stated as a matter of fact.

 _Not that I'll need it._ After the demon hunter got in his stance, the professor slammed his blunder-axe onto the lock, freeing the Grimm inside.

 **[Music: Lock and Load (** _ **Devil May Cry OST**_ **)]**

The Boarbatusk leapt out and began charging at Dante, red eyes getting ever closer to its target. Right when the tusks were about to make contact, however, the devil hunter was already on the other side of the arena. "Oh, I'm sorry," Dante said, "Was that for me?" The hog demon grew mad at its missed target, so naturally, it charged head first into the son of Sparda again. And just like last time, he dodged it at the last second. "Missed." Once more, did the black boar got enraged at is failure, only this time, Dante was openly mocking it by waving his coat around like a cape. For the _third_ time, the Boarbatusk tried to ram down its prey, only for Dante to pull his coat away at the last second declaring " _Olé!_ "

"My, my, what an interesting strategy!" Commented Port.

Dante wasn't finish however, as he back stepped to the other side of the arena. "Wow, you are really bad at this, aren't ya?" He began talking. "Tell you what, I'll give you one last chance. And to make things fair, I'll stay right here, in this spot." The devil hunter planted his feet to the ground for emphasis. "What cha say?"

The demon brought into this challenge, as it began curling up into a ball, spin dashing towards Dante's position. "Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port said. "Now what will you do?"

As the boar homed in, Dante stuck out his right hand. All of a sudden, a golden outline of a circle with a pentagram in the center with strange writings along the edge of the ring appeared, shielding the demon hunter at the moment of impact. Not only was the Boarbatusk stunned, but so was the Schnee, who had a front row seat of the action.

 _He can summon glyphs?_ She thought.

Dante walked up to the stunned boar, stomach facing upwards, to grab it by the beast's tusks.

"Finish it off, Dante!" Yelled the young leader. But what he did was way out of what people expected.

He forced the Boarbatusk into its ball formation, before bouncing it on his knees like an oversized hacky sack. In fact, that's all what that thing was to him. An oversized hacky sack.

After he had his fill, Dante used Beowulf to slam the beast down to the ground so hard, it uncurled itself from the shock. That gave him enough time to launch Rebellion into the air before kicking it down from the ceiling's height towards the soft belly weak spot.

The demon squealed as its after-life faded away into oblivion. When it remained still, Dante went up to dislodge his sword from the corpse before it faded away into nothing.

"Bravo! Bra-vo!" Applauded Port. "It seems Dante here gave us quite the show, wouldn't you agree class? I'll admit, your actions are stylish, but keep in mind that the most flamboyant methods aren't always the most practical."

The red coated hunter scoffed at his evaluation as he walked out. "Then it looks like we've been doing our jobs differently then, huh?"

"Well, anyways, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!" And with that, the students began to walk out of the classroom in record time. Weiss too, but only so she can quickly catch her teammate for some answers.

"Alright," she demanded, "Explain!"

"Explain what?" Dante asked. "You gotta be more specific than that!"

"During the match, you were able to summon a glyph that knocked that Boarbatusk unconscious." The heiress elaborated.

"So?"

"Glyphs are exclusive only to the Schnee bloodline! So how were you able to use one?"

"Hey, all I know is that some demons can actually use those things," he explained. "So who knows? Maybe your old man's a demon himself or something." The demon hunter said jokingly before walking away. What he failed to notice, however, was a shocked expression pasted on Weiss' face, followed by a deep frown.

"You have no idea how right you are," she said to no one in particular.

* * *

"You tried to fight a _Sparda?_ "

"...Yes."

Qrow was able to put up with a lot of shit in his life, but hearing Raven openly admit to provoking a fight with the son of Sparda made him want to deck his sister in the face so hard, he had to imagine that Ozpin and Ironwood were holding him back. "Look, I know you like to pull more reckless stunts than I do, but what you just did was practically a suicide!"

"My death wouldn't have been in vain." Raven attempted to distillate her weakness.

" _Bullshit!_ When will you realize that there are somethings you _can't do by yourself?_ " Qrow stopped himself so he can calm himself with a gulp from his flask. Raven always was the lone wolf of the group, even in situations most inconvenient. But now that the Spardas were walking around cold open, there will be no more I in Team. "You know the saying, 'There is no victory in strength alone'?"

Raven took offence to that last statement "Are you calling me weak?"

"Judging from how shitty you look when I found you... yeah." Now it was his turn to rustle her feathers. "Not only that, but how are you gonna explain this to your 'buddies' back 'home'? You fall off the radar before coming back, people are going to ask questions. And as far as the rest of Remnant is concerned, the Legend of Sparda is just that. A legend. So unless you have hard evidence that the one you fought was his son, then killing you right there will be the nicest thing they'll do to you."

Raven was caught off-guard as her brother explained that possibility. It was true though, only the Branwen twins alongside Ozpin knows of Sparda's confirmed existence, so death at the hands of her own clan was almost possible.

 **[Music: Sad Ending (** _ **Shadow The Hedgehog OST**_ **)]**

Yet despite this, she chose not to let her image falter. "I already told you, I'm not coming back. So stop trying to convince me."

"I'm not convincing you of anything," Qrow said as he got up. "I'm only stating facts." And just like that, the drunkle went upstairs of the small cabin they are currently residing in at the moment. He lied down on the makeshift bed he made before falling to a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Raven was all alone downstairs, her only company being the dying flames of an oil lantern and her own thoughts, as a light stream of tears escaped her eyes.

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **Welp, I did it. 4 chapters of _TDWDTR_. Now excuse me, I need to shift gears and get back to writing _METAL GEAR RISING: REMNANT_.**

 **Raiden: About fucking time.**

 **Jesus, Raiden! How did you get here?**

 **Raiden: You left your door open.**

 **(Knew I forgot something).**


	5. Mission 5: Would?

**Holy shit, SparktheDog posted an update.**

 **Yeah, sorry about that. I had this chapter ready last night, wanting to post this as my Christmas present to you, but the unfortunate timing of this site's servers going to hell in regards of creating a new document prevented me from doing so. In fact, I had to export one of my pre-existing chapters and paste the new chapter onto the copy just to publish this.**

 **As for writing the chapter itself, well I'm gonna save that for the post-chapter Author's Note.**

* * *

 _ **MISSION 5:**_

 _ **Would?**_

 _Even the strongest are subject to weakness_

 ** _MISSION START_**

* * *

 **[Music: Temen-Ni-Gru After the Ritual ( _Devil May Cry 3 OST_ )]**

Raven never recalled stepping foot back into the forest, or waking up at all for that matter.

She and Qrow might be on uneven terms, but he wouldn't go as far as to leave his own sister to die in the middle of nowhere. But it still begs the question as to just _why and how_ was she here? It wasn't for fatal reasons, otherwise she wouldn't be equipped in her battle armor nor would she still have her sword.

She needed answers and fast, just being here gave her the slight discomfort that something bad might happen.

 _Whoosh!_

A gasp escapes her mouth as Raven snapped towards the direction of the wind.

 _"You think you stand a chance?"_

The mere sinister voice alone of the one she previously fought was enough to kick the Tribal Leader's paranoia into overdrive as she drew her sword in defense. "Who's there?"

Silence answered her question, as she tensed up even more, beads of sweat rolling down her face as her breathing hastened.

 _"You are **weak… useless… pathetic.** "_

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Raven screamed at the Son of Sparda, his two lines playing on repeat within her own mind as her hands shook with each passing second.

 _"How are you going to explain your loss to your tribe? Your sudden disappearance will only raise more questions than answers."_

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" She couldn't take it anymore. She slashed blindly towards anything that moved, praying to god that one of them would kill him.

 _"Sparda has long since been forgotten to time. Trying to convince them of my existence is futile. You dishonored them, Raven, an act punishable by **death**."_

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT DISHONOR?" Raven screamed out to the ghost-like figure taunting her. "YOU'RE THE ONE HIDING IN THE TREES REFUSING TO COME OUT AND FIGHT!"

She should learn to be careful with what she wishes for.

Shortly after ridiculing him, Raven found herself face to face to the one who humiliated her earlier that night. There was no denying it, the same blue coat, the slick-backed silver hair, and the demotic blade that follows his every whim. "Well," he spoke, slightly spreading his arms wide. "Here I am."

The Tribal Leader didn't even waste time in her assault, piercing the sky with a blood-shattering war cry as she rushed down the Blue-Coated Demon, her eyes glowing the darkest shade of red in pure fury. Raven was consumed by her own rage, leaving her oblivious to how all her strikes just phased through him like some sort of ghost.

But she only needed one hand around her neck to realize that he's just as dangerous as before.

The Branwen sister gasped in shock as the Sparda son locked his hand on her neck, gripping tighter with each passing second. She tried to free herself, but everything strike Raven tried barely caused her assailant to flinch. Her strength was fleeting rapidly, but that didn't stop the Bandit's red eyes from widening in fear as she witnessed to the Half-Demon's fist draw back before launching it straight towards her core, sending her far across the forest as she let out a pained screech heard throughout all the night.

Raven clutched her stomach as the pain shot throughout all through her body. She groaned as she weakly rose, her feet wobbling as they struggled to support her weight. The Bandit Leader didn't even take a simple step before slumping down to her knees once more. Raven would've blacked out then and there had she hadn't heard the voice of another. "Raven, what has happened?"

The Samurai forced all of her strength to rising, using her sheathed sword as a crutch. She met face to face with two of her elites, who she can always fall back on when missions get to tough even for her. Raven turned around, meeting the same Blue-coated demon that has been haunting her this entire God-forsaken night. She pulled her sword out, pointing towards the Son of Sparda as she only gave out one simple command: " _KILL HIM!_ "

…No one moved a muscle, in fact they looked at her as if she was insane. Raven caught on to their stillness as she looked back at them. "Do you not see him?"

"Even if they could see your little 'ghost', why would they listen to you?" The samurai's eyes shot wide open at the sound of a voice she never wished to hear… A voice that shouldn't even be in this situation.

 **[Music: Image of The God of Space-Time ( _Devil May Cry OST_ )]**

Raven stared in shocked as the new figure made herself known. A woman in her late teens with a figure similar to her own, with messy, long hair flowing down to below her hips in a shade of a stained gold. Bracelets equipped on each wrist of a rusted gold hue, and eyes red like hers, staring down at her with a grudge that's been hardening for years. With a weak voice, Raven could only respond with one simple name: "Y-Y-Y… Yang?"

"So… even after all this time, you still remember my name." Yang spoke, all sense of emotion drained from her voice.

"Yang…" The mother hastily talked, "Why? What are you doing with them?"

"… They needed someone to lead them… because surprise, surprise, _you left them._ " The blonde's fists clutched tighter as she spat out that last part like poison.

 **[Music: Realize, Regret ( _Devil May Cry 2 OST_ )]**

Raven felt a great pain in her chest the second her own blood revealed the truth. True, she has abandoned Yang before, but that was by choice, something she was soon regretting the moment she discovered her daughter was now leading the Bandits. She tried to reach out towards her, to console her own daughter after years of neglect. "Yang… please… I know I haven't been there for you… but please- "

" _Don't touch me._ " Yang smacked away the hand of her "mother", growling at the pathetic attempt to bond. Such an action shouldn't had shock her, but it did. As much as she hated to admit it, she was _scared._ Scared of her own offspring and the years of trauma that she carried with her growth. "First, you run away…" Yang drew back her fist, aimed right towards Raven's face.

 _Punch!_

"Then, you try to weasel your way back?"

 _PUNCH!_

"What a load of _BULLSHIT!_ "

 ** _PUNCH!_**

Raven felt her face swell with each punch her daughter delivered, each impact harsher than the last, both physically and emotionally. Trickles of tears rolled down her face as the weight of it all came crashing down on her mind.

"Oh, how the mighty has fallen…" The fiery blonde taunted, getting pleasure from seeing that failure of a mother grovel on the floor. Walking up to her, Yang grabbed the weakened ex-leader by the hair, lifting Raven up to see her crying and sniffling in pain, softly pleading for mercy. "Let's see you run from this."

It was a soft response, but it was audible enough for Yang to hear. "Please… I… I-I'm sorry…"

"…Sorry? _SORRY?_ " Just hearing that meaningless word was enough to make the daughter flair up in uncontrollable rage. "THE SECOND I WAS OUT OF THAT WOMB, YOU LEFT _ALL OF US!_ _ACTING LIKE WE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!_ AND NOW YOU'RE EXPECTING ME TO GIVE A _DAMN_ ABOUT YOU? YOU LOST YOUR CHANCE TO BE A MOTHER! _SUMMER_ WAS MORE OF A MOTHER THAN YOU _EVER WILL!_ WHEN YOU WERE GONE, SHE WAS THERE FOR US, THERE FOR DAD, THERE FOR RUBY, THERE FOR QROW, THERE FOR _ME!_ " Yang harshly threw her own birth mother on the cold dirt, strength reaching maximum output from her own rant. As she hovered over her, Yang winded up her punch, fist ablaze in hell fire.

 ** _"Which is more than I can say for you."_**

Time sped up as the last punch pierced through her chest. The only thing leaving Raven of capable of doing, was letting out a dying, agonizing scream into the night.

* * *

"Raven! RAVEN! Wake up!"

At that precise moment, Raven shot straight up screaming in a cold sweat. Hyper-ventilating, she reached towards her chest, feeling for a gaping wound that never existed. _It was all a dream,_ she realized. But even if it wasn't real, the sheer memory of it was frightening enough on its own. As she calmed down, a glass of water courtesy of Qrow was brought into her line of view.

"Here, drink this." The drunkard insisted. "You look like you need it."

Raven reached towards a drink alright, but not the water as her brother expected. Instead, she opted for whatever was inside Qrow's flask.

Now Raven wouldn't fancy herself to be a drinker. Her tribe would only celebrate with alcohol after special jobs or events, and even then, the leader of the pack would only drink the light stuff in short bursts, or sometimes, not drink at all. But the beauty (or curse) of the deadly drink is that it allows one to either speak truly what was on their minds, or to forget it all in an instant. And after that traumatic experience, she _definitely_ needed a hard drink.

The samurai downed the entire flask, much to Qrow's shock and annoyance. "Hey, HEY! Not all at once!" The drunkle quickly took back his flask, checking to see if anything got left over from his sister's sudden chug.

Of course, there was none.

Qrow tried again to offer his sister some water, only to be turned down again as she was slowly veering towards one side her drunken stupor. Sighing deeply at her reckless decision, he set the glass down on a nearby table, just across from the couch where she was sleeping. "C'mon, we both know you can't hold your liquor." He got up, finding some sort of bucket to use for the inevitable outcome.

"…You were right about me…" Qrow froze as he turned around, just making out the words slurring out of Raven's mouth. "I am weak."

 **[Music: My Legacy ( _Devil May Cry 2 OST_ )]**

That alone was enough to make the alcoholic stick around as he pulled up a wooden chair, ready to hear what else his sister had to say about herself.

"…I saw him… he was taunting me but nowhere to be seen… toying with me… stroking my rage until I couldn't contain myself. I tried to fight him… but nothing I did worked. One punch. That all it took for me to go down, like I never had my Aura unlocked…" Raven stopped for a moment, breathing heavily as Qrow sworn he heard her crying. "It was far from over… they found me Qrow… they didn't believe me…" He figured as much. After all, Sparda did faded into legend God knows how long ago. But Raven wasn't done yet. "I saw… _her_. _She_ was with them…"

Such a cryptic line left Qrow in a state of brief confusion. Maybe Raven knew who attacked Amber and was terrified at what destructive capabilities she could do… but it wasn't like she knew less than to mess with a Maiden to begin with, right? Could it be Salem herself? It's possible, but the problem with that is that it wraps back to the issue with his first guess, she knows those two are _way_ out of her league. _But that didn't stop her from tangoing with Sparda's kid,_ he countered himself. All other guess Qrow could make was rendered moot as Raven revealed who she encountered. But… that can't be right, can it? _Yang?_ Did that fight leave so much of an impact that it re-instated long forgotten fears?

The drunken Huntsman knew better than to press her on this, instead covering his sister in the comfort of a warm blanket as she slowly drifted to sleep, mind numb from the alcohol. After that, Qrow could've gone back to his own bed at any time… but he decided to stay the remainder of the night by Raven's side, regardless of what his semblance might entail. After all, it's not like Raven's night could get any worse, can it?

 _HUUURGGEHH!_

Didn't take much for Raven to accept the glass of water after that. As for the rest?

…Eh, he'll clean it up in the morning.

* * *

"Mr. Dante and Ms. Nikos, to the arena immediately."

Ruby and her team tensed up in excitement as Beacon's strongest walked on opposite sides of the battle arena, Dante's coat flowing freely with each step as Rebellion glistened under the lights, while Pyrrha's armor sparkled a brilliant shine with her spear and sword, Miló and Akoúo̱, held hand in hand. "Can't you believe it, girls?" The young Rose exclaimed excitedly, "We've seen Dante fight against Grimm but to actually see him fight another Huntress? Gyah!"

"And seeing the way he fights… I think Pyrrha might lose this one!" Yang stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

Such a statement has caused Weiss to stammer for a proper response. "W-w-well don't count her out just yet! She can turn the fight around with her eyes closed!"

"Dante's style is mostly free range," Blake brought up, "He can only get away with what he does because there's nothing stopping him from doing so. But to bound him by rules and regulations might hinder him a bit."

"Exactly!" The Heiress quickly agreed, "So Pyrrha still has a chance!"

"Oh really…?" hummed the smug brawler, mocking Weiss with her eyes. "Care to put your money where your mouth is, Schnee?" Out of nowhere, a Lien card appeared on the desk, courtesy of Yang, sliding towards the Ice Queen.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, just throwing my fifteen Lien on Dante winning~" And just like that, one of Yang's… many problems came to light: Gambling.

And of course, Weiss took the bait, placing her own fifteen Lien on the desk as well. "Oh, you are SO on, Xiao Long!"

Meanwhile, the lights hovering over the desks has dimmed to put more emphasis on the fighters themselves, their Aura readings represented as green bars on a giant display screen centered of the stadium (Though Ozpin did have to arrange a work around for it to read Dante's demonic energy, after all, an Auraless Huntsman-in-Training would raise many questions.). The two got into their fighting positions as the countdown began. As the clock ticked down, Pyrrha began to speak. "It'll be an honor fighting you, Dante."

The devil hunter scoffed at her formality, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't start crying when I ruin that perfect streak of yours, kay?" He replied with a smug on his face, casually reaching for the hilt of his sword.

At the precise time the clock hit zero, only one word echoed through the halls: "BEGIN!"

 **[Music: Get Up – Breaking Point]**

Dante was the first to move, rushing towards the Amazon Warrior in a ferocious dash. Pyrrha responded accordingly by raising her shield, but still lowered just enough in case she needed to strike him down. To her surprise, he leapt up at close proximity, vaulting over the scarlet warrior as he finally pulled out Rebellion, ready to strike. But the champion was able recover enough to raise her shield with time to spare, causing the demonic blade to emit sparks by scratching along the bronze plating.

Right as the half-demon landed, Pyrrha took the initiative with a lightning fast sweeping kick, which might've disrupted his landing, but wasn't enough to stun him. Instead, he quickly brought his hands out for support, springing him off the ground as he positioned himself for a double foot kick. And to make thing even tougher on his opponent, Dante whipped out Ebony & Ivory, delivering cover fire for a clear landing. The Mistralian quickly back-flipped to avoid the bullets while providing some distance, with some of the more well-trained eyes noticing that some of the shots managed to graze her a bit, reducing her Aura by a tiny bit.

Dante spun his entire body around as he moved forward, quickly holstering the two handguns as he brought out Rebellion once more, ready to slash down at her as Pyrrha got ready to do the same. But the Swordmaster noticed something was off as he felt the blade redirect itself while moving in a sluggish pace with each strike, leaving himself open to a series of punishing wide slashes from Miló, staggering him a bit. As Dante tried to find his footing, he was suddenly bombarded with a barrage of heavy strikes courtesy of the 4-time Mistrial champion.

The last strike sent him flying straight up, but the Trickster managed to outmaneuver her by creating a rune beneath his feet, enabling him to recover almost instantly, leaping forward and behind her, once more smiling back at her. It was a dirty trick after all, using magnetism to leave him open like that. And if she's not gonna fight fair…

Then neither should he.

Dante placed Rebellion back on his back, rushing towards Pyrrha once more while said Amazon transformed her sword into a rifle, shooting straight towards him. But the Gunslinger brought out his signature handguns once more, lining up each shot to put all of her bullets out of commission. As the gap lessened between them, a brilliant flash surrounded the Devil Hunter's arms and legs, instantly taking form as pairs of gauntlets and grieves known to him as Beowulf. Miló quickly turned back into Sword mode, trying to slash at Dante, but fate turned against her as her formidable opponent _punched_ the sword out of her hands, enabling the half-demon to deliver a Straight punch that sent her flying, much to everyone's amazement.

It took a while, but Pyrrha quickly got back onto his feet, tossing Akoúo̱ in desperation, knowing full well her sword won't return in time with the way Dante was rushing towards her at full speed. Such an effort was fruitless, however, as Dante leapt on top of the shield as a stepping stone, kicking it right back at her as he jumped, stunning her upon impact. The airborne demon wasn't done yet, as Dante shot himself straight towards his dazed target, one leg extending all the way out. And before she could do anything about it, Pyrrha was heavily struck with a painful blow to her chest, complete with a stinging sensation of a Killer Bee.

The thought to be undefeated warrior was wobbling big time, trying hard just to stay afoot, but found herself held in place by none other than the opponent at hand, who drew back his fist, an ominous glow surrounding it with intense luminosity. Before she knew it, she felt her eyes trying to pop out of her sockets as the Real Impact shocked her at her core, before all pain being sent straight towards her head as Dante's fist redirected up to her chin, carrying the same force as the first one, but launching the both of them into the air with the winds of a tornado. As the two reached the peak, Pyrrha's eyes went wide as she suffered full force a devastating, double-fisted Hammer that sent her crashing down to the earth, leaving behind a crater in her wake.

 ** _BZZZZZ!_**

 **[Music ends]**

"And that concludes today's match!" Declared Glynda as she walked onto the stadium to face the seated students, all of them having completely surprised faces, and for good reason too. _THE_ Pyrrha Nikos _lost?_ Such a possibility was unheard of! Yet here comes this no name huntsman, one-upping her like nothing. They don't know how to react, should they be proud that she now has a rival to surpass? Or do they completely bash her for losing against a nobody? Can they get away with saying that Pyrrha deserved that victory and this "Dante" was cheating the entire time?

Whatever they decide on is not the main focus right now, so let's just focus on RWBY and JNPR for now, shall we?

And they're just as shocked as well, but for different reasons at least. Ruby and Nora couldn't get over how epic the fight was, their faces stuck in a stupid giddy grin. Yang had a smirk under her expression, knowing full well she just became fifteen Lien richer. Blake, Jaune and Ren were just surprised, not expecting their friend to be beaten that badly. They could tell she fought to her fullest, it just wasn't enough. But Weiss… she was just _devastated._ One of the most talented huntresses to walk the face of Remnant, tossed around like a ragdoll by some demonic brute.

That and she lost a bet to _Yang_.

But back to the arena, Pyrrha tried to get back up slowly, muscles sore from the shock of impact. She probably would've remained stuck there had she'd not been offered a helping hand from Dante himself. The "Invincible" Girl accepted his offer, pulling on his arm until she could stand once more. It was at that point Glynda started to speak once more.

"For those who don't believe it, this display shows that, indeed, Pyrrha Nikos' Aura is within the red zone." She pointed her crop to the screen to further prove her point. "Abiding by tournament rules, this would prove she is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

The rest of their friends came by to meet up with the two fighters, with Jaune coming to support his partner up as Ruby exclaimed her excitement. "OHMYGODTHATWASINCREDIBLYCOOLTHEWAYYOUPUNCHEDTHATSWORDANDKICKEDHERSHIELDBACKATPYRRHASOAWESOME!"

"Okay, Rubes," Yang reeled back her sister by her hood, "simmer down there!" After calming down her sister, the Blonde turned back to Pyrrha and Dante. "But I have to admit, that was freaking awesome!"

"Yeah, it was…" Interjected Jaune, still holding on to Pyrrha, "but don't you think that was a bit much, Dante? I mean, you could've seriously hurt Pyrrha!"

"You wouldn't want P-Money sticking her lawyers at you, do you?" Joked the bubbly Nora.

Despite her teammates concerns, Pyrrha felt the need to speak up for herself. "Guys, I'm fine! And I'm not going to press any charges against him, Nora. I knew what I was getting into."

"Heh, yeah, especially when they might have ridiculous demands." The Half-Demon agreed.

But once again, Glynda spoke, but this time to Dante himself. "Mr. Arc is right, Dante, it's not just Grimm your fighting now. I'll let you off with this one warning, but you must learn to hold back against everyone else, do you understand?"

The devil hunter rolled his eyes out of the teacher's line of sight before silently scoffing at her request. "Understood."

 _BRRRRRNG!_

"You are all dismissed." At Glynda's approval, RWBY(D) and JNPR left for lunch, hurrying up for some long-awaited grub as the teacher announced something to the excused students, "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

* * *

 **[Music: Overture ( _Devil May Cry 2 OST_ )]**

"And so… there we were, in the middle of the night…"

"It was day."

"We were surrounded by Ursai!"

"They were Beowolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

 **[Music Stop at 0:42]**

As Nora finished her little tale, all of her friends couldn't help from looking at her all quizzically as the silent lotus sighed deeply before clarifying. "She's been having this dream for nearly a month now." Such an answer incited a bunch of "Ah's" from the audience.

So, after going through that story, Ruby turned to the resident half-demon, "So, Dante. How do you like Beacon so far?"

Dante only shrugged at her question, "Eh, I mean it's alright so far. Not as exciting as I thought it would be, especially after that initiation thing happened."

"Even then, it's still a school," defended Ren. "It won't be just about fighting. Things like history and Dust chemistry are just as important as fighting Grimm and other criminals."

"Then it's not really a combat school, now is it?" the Son of Sparda replied, leaning forward as he took a bite of his pizza.

"It's mostly for identification purposes," the ever-distant Blake brought up, "there do exist schools that focus on other subjects than just being a Hunter, you know." It's quite funny how the only reaction she got from anyone was Ruby nearly choking on her strawberry, as if it's the first time she has ever learn of this basic fact.

Ignoring her little freak out, Dante turned back to the rest of his teammates. "So, I keep seeing people with animal ears… what's with that?" In his defense, though, it was a legitimate question. Such a school as socially accepting as Beacon is bound to attract people with all sorts of different appearances, whether they have tails, claws, maybe blind, even something as cliché as-

"Ow! That hurts!"

"Ha! I told you they were real!"

-Bunny ears… huh.

"Please… stop…" RWBY(D) and JNPR couldn't help but cringe at resident bully Cardin Winchester's mockery towards the poor rabbit Faunus, almost crying in pain from her unnecessary abuse.

"Atrocious," The Mistralian Amazon commented, "I can't stand people like him…" Blake, Ren, Nora and Yang could be heard murmuring in response, most likely than not agreeing with her. But Dante… he could only give out a concentrated scowl as he gave out the most intense stare Ruby has ever seen. Suddenly, he rose, heading towards the commotion happening nearby.

Ruby couldn't help but smile as her teammate went off to no doubt settle the dispute, cheering him on from the sidelines with a line more along the side of, "Kick his butt!". As the red-coated hunter got close, one of Cardin's lackeys, the asshole with the green mohawk, signaled the big bad brute with a shoulder tap, alerting him of Dante's presence. All of CRDL then looked straight at the intruder, expecting some sort of fight to initiate. But they never expected him to say: "Mind if I join?"

Cue the shocked expressions of everyone of what they just heard. But Cardin only just smiled at Dante's response. "Here," the bully said, "Go ahead…"

Everyone else couldn't believe what they were about to see. In fact, Ruby and Jaune were still in shock from Dante's initial offer. To think, some one of such badassery could fall so low to picking on the defenseless… They felt time slowdown as the devil hunter reached his hand out, ready to grab his victim.

 _"YEOW!"_

RWBY and JNPR jumped at the surprisingly masculine voice, so, taking a chance to look, they saw Dante pulling _Cardin's_ ear in a rather comedic fashion. Seriously, he was constantly shouting "Ow" as the half-demon casually stood there, looking half-amused, half-bored. "Heh, you were right," the devil hunter spoke, "This is fun!"

Cardin the bully, however, didn't think the same at all. "Let me go!"

The demon hunter pondered briefly about his request, before agreeing to his demands...

 **[Music: Blast Off! ( _Devil May Cry 2_ _OST_ )]**

...by trapping him in a giant swing before launching the racist towards another table filled with food. He didn't stop upon landing, however, as the line of food helped him slide off to the other end, causing him to crash land onto the hard tiles covered in mashed potatoes, peas, milk and even gravy, much to the laughter of everyone else. Dante noted his stare directed towards him, "To be fair, that was a poor choice of words on your part."

The CRDL leader was not amused, however, responding with an anger-fueled fist slam. "Oh, you think you're fucking smart?"

"If that was the case," started the half-demon once more, leaping onto the ledge where Cardin fell from, "then I would rather challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!" A roar of laughter filled the room as Dante stared down at the messy bully with a shit-eating grin. Even the guy with the stupid mohawk chuckled a bit before getting silenced by his leader's death glare.

The brute tried to drag down his humiliator by yanking on his ankles, but failed as his hand landed on the table, Dante already backflipping away off it. But his action wasn't a total waste though, as he pulled himself up onto the table once more, eyes locked and filled with rage, as he rushed towards the demon hunter, fist clenched tight and ready to strike. But the Sparda offspring never moved a muscle, despite how closer and closer the raging student's fist came close to his face.

 **[Music Ends]**

"MISTER WINCHESTER!"

 _Well, deal out some 7's and call up Lady Luck…_ thought Dante as Cardin _immediately_ locked up at the threatening sound of Glynda Goodwitch's voice. Right when his fist was only millimeters away from contact. In record time, the bully got off and dusted himself off, all while stepping away from the red-coated hunter.

Cardin quickly tried to defend himself, "He started it!"

"Only because _you_ couldn't keep your hands off another girl, who, I should mention, wasn't interested." The whole cafeteria gave a chorus of "Ooooo's", all of them feeling the smugness ooze off from Dante.

"ENOUGH!" Shouted the stern teacher in rage. "Cardin, two week's detention, no excuses!" Cardin could only gasp in silence as he angrily glared back at Dante, chuckling at his punishment. But that doesn't mean he was out of the doghouse yet. "As for you, Dante. You are to report to Ozpin's office, _immediately_."

While not as big as Cardin's reaction, Dante was still confused as to why is he getting punished for doing the _right_ thing. And it seems the rest of the team had the same idea as well, but kept their mouths shut for fearing Glynda's wrath. Dante turned to them, noticing their worried faces, "Guys, it's fine," he tried to assure them, "I'm probably gonna get a stern talking to and that's it. I'm not going anywhere."

Ruby and the others couldn't help but exchange faces with each other, not a single person being able to shake off their fears or doubts for the Red Coated hunter. But as Dante was walking away, he was stopped by a tap on his shoulder, by a very shy rabbit faunus. "Oh, hey," said Dante, turning to one of his fellow classmates, "You're that rabbit girl that asshole was picking on, aren't you?"

Despite the crude language, the meek rabbit faunus nodded sheepishly at his accusation, "M-my name's Velvet…" she identified herself as. It didn't take a detective to know that this girl was very introverted, but whether that was because of her heritage or if it was just a core piece of her personality was yet to be decided. Nevertheless, she bowed in respect regarding the Devil Hunter's bravery, "T-thank you for saving me."

For some unexplained reason, Dante found himself not being able to respond accordingly. This feeling of gratitude he was receiving was new to him, so he couldn't really ask for anything in return. It just didn't felt right to him. But maybe he can offer something else… "You got a team, don't ya?" the Half-Demon asked.

Velvet tilted her head a bit to the side, only to nod at his question. "Y-yes… Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi are my teammates."

"Then make sure you stick by them, and vice-versa," said the Son of Sparda. "Wouldn't want a sweet girl like yourself run into any more trouble!" And at that precise moment, everyone could pinpoint when the Rabbit Faunus turned a shade that rivaled Dante's signature coat, as he walked away for a meeting with Ozpin.

* * *

 **[Music: Alive - Pearl Jam]**

Vergil was never one for clubs. Just the overall idea of people slowly losing their common sense over some drinks was enough to turn him away from those establishments for so long. To say nothing of the alcoholic smell that would linger throughout the building. Yet, he found himself stepping into one, but just for some basic information regarding the city he stumbled across on his journey.

Luckily, the sun doesn't seem to be setting down anytime soon, so at least he didn't have to deal with over-boosted basses and obnoxious people. As he sat down in front of the bar, he noticed a scruffy bearded man, wearing a black vest over a plain, white shirt and a red tie as he made his way out from the back before taking notice to his presence. "Usually I don't get many customers around this time, but what shall it be today?" he spoke.

The Darkslayer chose his words carefully, as any wrong gesture could lock him out of what he needed, "What are the odds of you having any non-alcoholic beverages?" It was a weird thing for him to say, but it would at least make him look harmless for now.

"Well, lucky for you," started the gruff man, "we do have virgin variants of certain drinks like Bloody Mary, Peach Bellini, Sangria, Strawberry Sunrise… any one of them tickle your fancy?"

Vergil pondered a bit. Options are usually a nice thing to have, but even then, he couldn't afford to drop his guard down for a second. Strawberry Sunrise, from what he had read, has a low alcohol count, so even if her were to slip some in, it probably wouldn't even be noticeable. "I'll have that last one, the Sunrise."

"One virgin Strawberry Sunrise, comin' up," said the man, as he turned to mix the drink. There goes one part off the plan, now to lead a conversation into getting some information. "Haven't seen someone quite like you around here. New to Vale?"

Sometimes, the best type of problems are the ones that solves themselves.

"You could say that," replied the half-demon as the bartender placed his glass on the table. He took a sip, taking note of the lack of alcohol, before continuing, "Figured I'd get some facts straight before doing anything irrational. You seem like a pretty knowledgeable person."

The vested man froze a bit, turning his head to meet Vergil's icy eyes, "And what makes you think I'm that kinda guy?"

"Forgive me on being stereotypical on my part, but aren't the most knowledgeable of info brokers also the shadiest?" Came his response. While flawed, his cold tone made it sound like it was more of a fact than anything, and given the man's response, the bluff worked.

"Alright, fine!" He groaned, "I'm _that_ kind of guy," slumping down on the table in defeat, he turned back to the blue-coated man, casually drinking his sunrise, "What do you want to know?"

"Just the basic facts of this place," Vergil bluntly stated. "I'm not interested in personal affairs."

"So, you just need me to be a glorified tour guide?"

"If that's how you're willing to see yourself," replied the aloof swordsman, taking another sip from his drink. As he placed the glass down, he noticed the bartender pull something out of a drawer, and placing on the desk a small device in a closed position. Vergil grabbed the white device, inspecting the almost phone-like design, "And this has everything I need to know?"

"All the basic ins and outs of this city," replied the bartender. As Vergil was about to pocket it, however, the gruff man stopped the swordsman before he could put it away, "Now hold on a minute, basic information or not, I need something from you."

Now the Son of Sparda wasn't one for negotiations, and frankly, he should be taking the device and get on his way already, personal requirements be damned. But he's gotten this far, and he might as well play along with his demands, "What is it you want?"

The man sighed as he looked back towards the bar shelves, "This month has been pretty rough, y'know? Lost some of my men to that no-good Torchwick, then after that, some Blonde demanding answers trashed the whole place! So, because of that I'm behind payments on repair costs, so I hope you have a hefty amount of Lien to help pay it off."

 _So, it all comes down to money, huh?_ "Then you'll be sorely disappointed."

Upon hearing this, the bartender immediately looked at his customer dead in the eye, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's as I said," Vergil spoke without a hint of remorse, "I don't bother with monetary possessions, so to ask for me to aid in your debt is a lost cause."

It was the last thing the gruff bartender expected to hear, pinching his nose as a loud sigh escaped his mouth, "You mean to tell me, you waltz in here, knowing you're flat broke, and you're expecting _me_ to just _hand_ these things over to you like a charity case?"

"Is that a problem, _sir_?" snarked the Darkslayer.

" _Your goddamn right there is one!_ " And just like that, the Bartender pushed Vergil away from the bar, before commanding his mercenaries to surround him, guns cocked and pointed straight at him. But amongst the suited men was two twin girls, one in a cyan/white dress with bladed heels, another in a scarlet/black dress of a similar fashion, but equipped with claws attached around her wrists. Meanwhile, the bartender brought out a weapon of his own from underneath the table, a club elongated to form a bazooka, also aimed at the blue-coated half demon for reassurance. "Had you not spat in my face, I would've let you work off the debt. You brought this on yourself!"

Vergil could care less for empty threats, however, for the moment he heard the gun clicked, he suddenly materialized in a blip of blue light in front of the bartender once more, causing him to stagger back in fear expecting the worst to his men…

But instead of a cross-fire, nothing happened…

Until one by one, the guns the mercenaries were holding started to fall into pieces, each of them cleanly cut through. But it wasn't just the men, the scarlet-dressed girl yelped in pain as her claws violently shattered and fell to the floor, massaging her wrists questioning what just happened, as she heard her sister cry, seeing her land harshly on her back as her heels lost the very blades holding her up. The bartender didn't fare much either, witnessing his own bazooka fall apart as well, as he bumped his back to his alcohol shelves, feeling the full intimidation from the strange visitor. He could've killed them right then and now if Vergil felt like it, but he instead opted to reach for the device, opening up its holographic display as he scrolled through the information for a bit before closing and pocketing it.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he said before making his leave.

Right as the visitor left, the bartender quickly pulled himself a glass and began pouring the heaviest drink he's got before gulping it down quickly, "Why do I always get the freaks?"

* * *

 **[Music: Power of Will ( _Devil May Cry 2 OST_ )]**

Vergil was amazed on how mundane the things in Vale are, all except for two things: Beacon Academy, and the upcoming Forty-Second Vytal Festival that is set to take place in this very city. From what he has read, Beacon seems to be a school dedicated to training budding warriors to fight and protect the common people from the Grimm, no doubt locked in a war against Salem. A valiant effort, he has to admit, and in all honesty, he wouldn't put it pass him that Dante would join something like that, but he needs some confirmation first before jumping to conclusions.

It's probably for the best to probe the students for now, since he knows the type of uniforms they wear. "If you truly taken residence here, then I have a feeling we shall meet sooner than you think, dear brother…" As he walked off, he noticed a brown cloak of decent condition hanging from a nearby lamp post. Having dusting it off, he wore it, covering his face against any prying eyes, as he continued to stroll into the city streets…

* * *

 **Okay, so sticking to my promise, let's talk about "Why Spark Took Three Months on Writing One Chapter"**

 **Probably my biggest priority right now, School. And it was** _hell_ **the past few months. So because of Hurricane Harvey and school being delayed by about three weeks, we were absolutely slammed with school work. How bad was it? I barely managed to pass my Computer Science class with a borderline 70. Not helping was the CollegeNow Economics that almost handed my ass to me had it not been for that extra credit assignment and that god-forsaken four page essay I had to write. If this is what college is like then I am not ready. But it wasn't just that, it was also Injustice 2. Yeah, seems petty to pin the blame on a game that I don't have to play, but at the same time, it's so god damn GOOD. I managed to level 20 my Sub-Zero and Batman and was able to score some pretty nifty badass gear in the process. Multiverse is always a treat, much better than the Living Towers in MKX.**

 **Guys, fanfics are cool and all, but have y'all ever beaten a Multiverse boss on the first try with minimal issues? So damn satisfying.**


	6. Mission 6: Comfortable Liar

**Have I finally done it? Have after nearly a year, I finally published the sixth mission to this shindig? Short answer: Yes. Fucking Finally. I had to re-write this mission because the first draft sucked, I just entered college life, Steam is a cruel mistress and just now have I decided to get my shit together and finish this mission. One of the biggest problems stemmed from the fact that "The Stray" takes a somewhat political route and I had a fucking hard time trying to imagine Dante in that position. But it's here, I may have compromised his character a bit, but I'm sure in due time, you will forgive me like you did with Vergil in Missions 2 and 3.**

 **But I'm sure I bored you enough with the prelude.**

* * *

 ** _MISSION 6:_**

 ** _Comfortable Liar_**

 _Sooner or later, the illusion will fade_

 ** _MISSION START_**

* * *

 **[Music: Divinity Statue (** _ **Devil May Cry 2**_ **OST)]**

Hours has passed since Vergil's intrusion to the shady bar, leaving with information in hand. Staring up into the sky, he noticed the stars and space slowly fading out as the sun rose to signal a new day. Pulling on his hood, he hid into a nearby ally to see what else he could gather from the device the bartender gave him.

 _Like what other breeds of Grimm exists outside from those I've fought?_

He scrolled through the list, looking at whatever Grimm are considered worthy of his interest. They seem to have taken their likeness from animals given of what he's seen before, crossing the Beowolves, Nevermores, Ursas, Creeps, Deathstalkers and the Beringel off the encyclopedia. A few seem to raise his interest, however.

 _Geists. Seems to be just like the Sins in the case that they must possess something to even pose as a threat. Shares the same weakness, too. Both demons can't afford to have their skull exposed less they risk certain death._

 _Griffons. Body of a lion, with features of a deadly hawk. I know demons bearing the same namesake exists throughout my research of father, but I have yet to encounter one myself. Their sizes range from ten feet to thirty, but they don't seem to have possession of wind or electrical elements. Dangerous in packs, but still a bunch of mindless servants…_

 _Goliaths. Giant mammoth-like creatures taller than two hundred feet. If their thick skin and armor plating makes them immune to swords and bullets, then I better avoid using Force Edge or Beowulf against them. After all, not a single demon can stand the might of Yamato._

 _And then there's the Nuckelavee. Strange… aside from a few eye-witness reports, not much is known about this creature aside from a deadly rampage instigated by this very Grimm on a village nearly 12 years ago. Given how this file describes the incident as "horrendous cries of help suddenly silenced" it's a safe bet that not a single soul survived the incident. Perhaps this Grimm would provide a decent challenge…_

 **[Music ends]**

Vergil stopped to put away the scroll within his coat once he sensed the presence of two others. He felt something off about the two entities approaching him, as if the human scent was mixed with animals… a canine and a reptile respectively. These must be the faunus he read about.

"Hey, check out pretty boy over here."

Vergil actively rolled his eyes at that statement, refusing to turn back on the duo. The two walked closer to the half-demon, unaware of his might, as the Son of Sparda heard an audible _click_ echoed behind him.

"Any reason why the human's roaming near our turf tonight?" one of them spoke.

"Who cares?" the other spoke. "He's as good as dead."

It was then and there Vergil decided to put these stuck-up brutes in their place. "It is unwise to pick on those you have no chance of surpassing."

It's obvious they heeded no regard to his warning, as the one holding the gun decided to pull the trigger, launching the bullet from the chamber…

…only it never hit its target.

"The fuck…?" the canine-hybrid said, just as confused as his partner, not noticing the so called 'pretty boy' warping behind them.

"Over there!" the reptilian shouted, as the canine once again aimed towards Vergil.

"I don't know how the fuck I missed," he said, "but I'm sure as hell won't this time!"

The absolute moment the gun's hammer began to move, Vergil used Rapid Slash to slide pass his assailants, frozen in the midst of time as he slowly sheathed Yamato, the clock ticking as the blade narrows down to the hilt.

 _Click!_

In a split-second, fatal cuts brutally tore open, gashes of blood spurting out from the two animal-hybrids, leaving them silently drowning in puddles of their own blood, as Vergil walked into the night, continuing his journey for power.

* * *

It was a bright and beautiful Saturday in Vale. As the people went through their daily lives, RWBY(D) was chilling at an ice cream shop downtown, each taking a well-deserved R&R time from Beacon. Ruby was wolfing down on some cookie ice cream sandwiches, Weiss was having a low-fat vanilla scoop, Yang was enjoying a banana split, and Dante was chilling with his Strawberry Sundae. Blake, on the other hand, didn't have any ice cream at all, instead focusing on her scroll for news.

"Ah!" Yang said, swallowing another scoop. "We deserve this for all our hard work."

Ruby nodded in agreement as she gulped down another bite, "You said it, sister!"

Dante leaned back as he ate another scoop of his sundae, leaning back as he stared off into the sky. Even if it wasn't quite like home, he got to admit that Vale wasn't too shabby. Granted, he was lectured by Ozpin about holding back and how even with Aura, the students couldn't hope to compare with his power, but at least things are looking up for him now. _Heh, might get addicted to this place,_ he thought. At least he can make a name for himself here while still being a hunter, rather than do a bunch of odd-jobs just to gather enough money to buy a shop that got destroyed before he could pick a catchy name.

In the corner of his eye, however, he saw a group of people putting up decorations, including a white banner that said, "WELCOME TO VALE!"

"What's the occasion?" Dante asked. "Queen of Atlas making a visit?"

Weiss turned in confusion over the joke he made, only to gasp in excitement. "I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. "Vale is hosting the Vytal Festival this year!"

Dante only leaned back in response. "What, is that some kind of life celebration?"

"Kinda," Yang answered.

"It's a festival celebrating the many cultures of the world!" Weiss took over. "Dances, parades, a tournament! I'll be honest, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this is simple breathtaking!"

"Wow, Weiss," Yang sighed. "Way to take something interesting and make it sound boring. Not a good first impression for Dante."

"Quiet, you!"

Dante only gave a slight chuckle in response. "Hey, give her some credit. From the way Weiss' described it, sounds like this Vytal Festival is like a 'Taste-of-The-World' type thing."

"Exactly!" Weiss agreed. "With that said, it would be beneficial to head to the docks after this, to welcome all visitors on behalf of Beacon."

Despite her reasoning, Yang saw through Weiss' lie. "You mean spy on them to get a leg up on the tournament?"

As expected, the heiress was taken aback by her teammate's accusation. "N-no! Shut up!"

During all this, however, Blake was becoming more and more focused on her scroll, something that Ruby took notice of. "You okay, Blake? You seem kinda… distant."

The secret faunus suddenly perked up upon hearing her leader speak to her. "W-what? Sorry, Ruby. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay," Ruby reassured her friend, sitting closer to her in an attempt to look at her scroll. "What'cha looking at?"

"News articles," Blake answered. "I like to stay on top of the things going on in the world." She continued to scroll through the different outlets, before stopping at an article detailing two faunus dead near a nightclub, sliced open with perfect precision. Blake silently gasped as she saw the uncensored image in all its full gore. "My god…"

The others were soon interested in what Blake saw, but upon seeing the image, they wish they hadn't. Yang and Weiss were stunned, but tried their best to hide it, while Ruby made it known just how shaken she was from seeing two people dead like that. Dante, however, seemed to be studying the wound, almost as if he knew who did this. "This happened just last night," Blake read the article. "Autopsy reports says that the two were identified as Lupus Cain and Basilisk Sage, with later police reports confirming that they were part of the White Fang…"

She would've continued has she not heard a sigh of relaxation from Weiss. "Well, that's a relief," she said.

Everyone slowly turned their heads towards the heiress as she said that, with Blake wielding a somewhat-furious scowl on her face. "Excuse me?"

"They were White Fang, Blake!" Weiss defended herself. "Their fate was well-earned karma for all they did."

"But that doesn't make it right," Ruby spoke. "They were still people."

"And how could you say they earned this, Weiss?" Blake argued. "The White Fang are simply misguided."

" _Misguided?_ " Weiss shouted, "They want to wipe humanity off the map!"

"So, then they're _very_ misguided." Blake defended. "Besides, they aren't the only ones causing crimes in Remnant, you know!"

"Blake's got a point," Ruby pointed out. "Roman's still out there, maybe some of the bad things were done by him?"

At this point, Dante was lost and angry at the growing tension within his own team. With an audible slam, he focused all attention to himself. "Ladies, ladies, come on! Can't you all just chill for a second? I don't even know what a 'White Fang' is."

"The White Fang are a menace to society." Weiss explained from her point of view. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal."

Blake took offence to what she said, however, and immediately inserted her point of view. "They're a faunus equality group trying to achieve peace!"

"Alright, hold up!" Dante placed his hands out. "Are they menaces or activists? You can't say both because they cancel each other out!"

As Weiss and Blake gave each other an intense stare, Yang took the opportunity to set the facts straight. "They started as activist, but suddenly became more and more violent. Don't ask me why, I dunno myself."

"So," The red coated hunter began. "A fall from grace situation is what I'm hearing. I'm gonna assume that Blake idolized them at one point, probably for calling out a social issue, but it's about time she starts to wake up and see who they really are." He looked at Blake's slight pained face with a somber look. "Cause if it's one thing I learned, you don't have to be born a demon to be one." Dante lean back with a sigh, reaching for his sundae. "But, what do I know? For all I know, some of them could be pretty cool."

"HEY! STOP THAT FAUNUS!" Out of nowhere, a blond monkey-tailed faunus crash landed on top of the table RWBY(D) was sitting on, knocking off all of the food in the process, giving a quick wink towards Blake before leaping off, escaping the pissed dock crew. "YOU NO-GOOD STOWAWAY!"

"Hey!" The faunus said as if he took offence to that, swinging from a lamp post. "A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!"

Everyone stared at the fleeing faunus in surprise, not even bothering to look back at each other to discuss the random event. "Welp," Yang broke the tension. "That happened."

"Do you think he's here for the tournament?" Ruby asked.

While everyone was blanked-face, Dante had a scowl that was creating tension by the second, probably from his strawberry sundae being tossed onto the floor recklessly.

Right as Yang was gonna comfort him about this, he suddenly drew out Ebony and Ivory and began chasing the Faunus down, mumbling something about how "that son of a bitch is gonna pay!" The rest of the team followed after him, attempting to stop him from doing anything worth trouble. Right as Dante turned around the corner, a loud _CRASH_ was heard, forcing everyone to speed up out of fear. By the time they reached the corner, they saw Dante landed on top of a ginger-haired girl, dressed in beige.

Dante groaned as he lifted himself up, low-key growling in frustration as the monkey made his escape. "Damn it," he cursed, before noticing his teammates attention being drawn towards the girl on the floor.

As soon as the spotlight was on her, the mysterious girl gave a rather… _unnerving_ grin towards the group. "Salutations!" She said.

The five stared at her with visible confusion, before Ruby broke the ice. "Uh… hello…"

"You okay?" Yang asked.

The strange girl laid in silence as if she was processing an obscure algorithm. After a brief moment, she finally spoke. "I am wonderful! Thank you for asking!"

Again, a pregnant pause filled the air as the scene played out. "You wanna… get up?" Yang asked.

Like a computer processing information, Penny laid in silence before standing up with a leap. "My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

As soon as the group has shaken off their confusion, the team introduced themselves one by one. "Hi, Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"You sure you didn't hit your head?" The blonde said, before getting bumped in the side by her partner. "Oh! I'm Yang."

"The name's Dante."

As soon as the team finished saying their names, Penny spoke. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"You… already said that," Weiss said, confused.

Penny took a moment to think about what Weiss said, before confirming her observation. The team was even more unnerved by her mannerisms, coming across unnatural, almost robotic even. Weiss decided then and there to cut the conversation short. "Well, sorry about my partner running into you."

"Hey, why you gotta make it sound like I wasn't gonna apologize?" Dante said.

As the team walked away, Ruby turned around to meet Penny one last time, "See you around, friend!"

Doing their best to hide their unnerved faces, RWBY(D) casually walked away from the strange girl. They all exchange looks as they tried to process just who the hell was she. Strange mannerisms, almost photo-esque eyes and a blank face that could very well pierce their very souls. However, Dante also noticed how she has no scent, unlike the humans or faunus he's encountered. He can sense her aura, but it isn't that of a demon either. All of this raised serious red flags for Dante, unknown whether or not he can actually trust this girl.

"She was… weird…" Yang commented, which Dante didn't disagree to.

"What did you call me?" Everyone froze in place as they heard Penny's voice once more. As they looked at her moving in front of them, Dante slightly moved towards the defensive, ready for whatever this… _thing_ has planned.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yang quickly apologized. "I didn't think you heard me!"

"Not you," Penny coldly stated, looking to meet Ruby in the eyes. "You." Despite Ruby's stammering and fear, she merely continued. "You called me friend, am I really your friend?"

"Uh…" Ruby could only mutter out, as Penny looms over her with her curious, yet frightening eyes, as she sees her friends shaking their heads as they were silently telling her to don't do it. "Y-yeah, sure! Why not?"

If looks could kill, Ruby's team would've killed her four times over.

"SSSENSATIONAL!" Penny shouted in excitement, hugging her new friend tightly all of a sudden. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like Dante!"

"Flattered, but no," Dante bluntly stated. "Just… what are you doing here?"

"I am here to fight in the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Penny answered.

"Forgive me," Weiss spoke up. "But you hardly look the part."

"Said the princess wearing her skirt," Yang snarked.

" _Combat_ skirt, Yang," Weiss countered, earning a low-five from Ruby as Yang only rolls her eyes at their dorkiness. Just shortly after, however, the Schnee's eyes widen in realization as Penny's motivation sunk in. "Wait, if you're here for the tournament, then does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

"The who?" Penny asked, confused as to who Weiss was referring to.

"The filthy faunus from the boat!" She clarified

"Why do you keep saying that?" Everyone froze as they turned to Blake, staring down Weiss with her intense golden eyes. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a filthy degenerate! He's a _person!_ "

Weiss glared back using her own icy blue eyes, carrying a condescending aura as she spoke, "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like for me to stop referring to this trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop that!" Blake yelled.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law!" Weiss countered back. "Give him time, and he'll probably join in with the rest of the White Fang!"

And just like that, the two were riled up again, tossing insults at one another in a childish attempt to win their argument. While Ruby and Yang were doing nothing to stop them, Dante couldn't help but drag his palm down from his face, eventually summoning Rebellion as he slammed the blade smack down in the middle of the two. "Alright, ALRIGHT! Enough already! Didn't we literally just wrap this up not so long ago? Get a hold of yourselves!"

"Didn't you chased down that same faunus for knocking your sundae over while calling him a 'son of a bitch?'" Ruby brought up, playing Devil's advocate as Yang smacked her in the head for cursing.

"Yeah, because he knocked over my sundae," Dante acknowledged.

"If anything, that makes you no better than Weiss!" Blake said.

"I don't- what?" Dante asked, legit confused by Blake's oh-so-flawless logic. "I never said I hated him for being a faunus, I think he's a dick for knocking over my strawberry sundae!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean to," Blake tried to vouch for him. "He was in a hurry!"

"Yeah, a hurry in getting away from the cops," Weiss commented.

"Why you-!" Blake and Weiss started fighting again, turning into an internet chat room argument as they try to bring each other down.

Dante did nothing but phase away Rebellion from the public eye, throwing his hands up in frustration knowing that nothing would get the two to stop. "Know what? I'm done! Screw you both, I'm getting some pizza!"

"May I come and join you, Dante?" Penny asked with curiosity.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" He flatly said, not giving a damn about anything at this point. "The more the merrier! If anyone not named Weiss or Blake would like to join in, be my guest!"

Ruby and Yang only looked at each other with utmost concern, not following Dante and Penny as they left, but not doing anything to calm down their teammates either.

The semester isn't even halfway over and already Team RWBY(D) was falling apart.

* * *

Raven lost track on how long she spent staring down her own mask. Thoughts were running through her mind at a hundred miles per second as she recalled what happened to her the past few days. Ever since she lost to Vergil, no longer could she find herself fit to lead her tribe. At the same time, she couldn't just abandon them. She was surprised when Qrow, who she reduced contact with out of spite for abandoning their bloodline, still cared enough to help her back on her feet. Raven slumped down lowering her head until it touched the mask.

"If you're gonna leave, then leave. I ain't forcing you to stay," Raven was taken out of her slump to see Qrow, simple leaning against the wall with his signature flask in hand. "Listen… I know we didn't last see each other off on the best of terms, even if you did leave first." Qrow chuckled a bit, before quickly losing his slight smirk. "I know you have a tribe to run, and I understand just how stubborn you are. I helped raise your daughter after all. But… you seem rested enough, so I'm not gonna keep you locked in here or anything like that."

Raven said nothing but was merely tempted to leave right then and there. Yet… she still couldn't bring herself to move, not even to reach for the hilt of her sword.

"I don't know if you noticed this during all of your pillaging and raiding and what not, but there are a lot of people that miss you," her brother spoke once more, moving towards the open window nearby. "I don't think I need to tell you again just how bad Tai fell apart when you left, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed the times where it was just us chilling, even if we did reunite under the… not the best circumstances. And Yang… well, let's just say she always wanted to meet you. I made sure to put in a good word for you, don't worry. If only you took the time out to see just how much she grown."

Raven couldn't help but close her eyes gently as Qrow said that. She knows how much her family was hurting, and she's always been proud to see just how far Yang has come, even if she did came off as arrogant and short-sighted. She always dreamt of just abandoning her duties and living the rest of her life in peace, but Raven knows that life is never generous. _However…_ she only thought.

Qrow looked out the window, taking another swig, as he heard the swishing sound of his sister's blade, followed by a red glow that softly illuminated the room before disappearing. He looked back to where Raven once was, deciding to walk closer when he saw something catch his eye: Raven's nevermore mask… with a stab hole right through it.

* * *

The red tails of Dante's coat swayed slightly as he made his way down the dorm halls, pizza box in hand (that he paid for by putting it on Weiss' tab) after parting ways with the strange Penny. And not just in how she spoke or acted back earlier, but in the sense that she didn't even eat at all. Dante didn't think much of it, trying to cool down after Weiss and Blake's argument and the good news that at least he doesn't have to see her until this Vytal Festival arrives.

Just as he was about to turn into his dorm however, the door burst open, a teary-eyed Blake who could only stare at Dante in fear. He tried calling to her, but at that point, she was already running away. Dante could no longer keep his anger subdued, knowing damn well the one responsible for this. He coldly entered the dorm room, slamming the door behind him to earn his teammate's attention. _**"What did you do?"**_ he asked Weiss, a demonic growl escaping him.

 **[Music: Talk (** _ **SMTIII: Nocturne**_ **OST)]**

It took a bit to regain her posture, having been taken off-guard by his hostile interrogation, but Weiss was able to answer Dante's question. "I-it's simple, Blake outed herself as a member of the White Fang! I told her how they were nothing but liars, murderers and thieves, and all of a sudden, she said 'Well maybe we're just tired of being pushed around' before leaving!"

"And you just _assumed_ she was White Fang?" He retorted.

"The innocent never run, Dante."

"They will if the odds are stacked against them, just like what you just did to Blake."

"Why are you defending her?" Weiss bewilderedly asked. "She's a terrorist! She could kill us all in our sleep for all we know!"

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" Dante rebutted. "Why don't you shut up and use that big brain your daddy paid for? If she really wanted to kill all of you, then why hasn't she done so already?"

Weiss could only stammer, trying to come up with some bullshit excuse along the line of "Well, she's just buying her time" or "she wants to send intel about us back to her superiors," but it was obvious Dante was not buying any of them. That lead him to focus on the other two in the room. "Yang, you're Blake's partner, you're telling me you didn't try to stop them _at all?_ "

"What was I supposed to say?" Yang asked in frustration.

" _Literally anything!"_ he yelled back. It was then Dante noticed Ruby trying to back away from the chaos, much to his dismay. "And you."

Ruby froze as she saw Dante call attention to herself. "M-me?"

"You're supposed to be the team leader, right?" Dante questioned, with Ruby replying with a simple nod. "Yang won't be here to protect you forever, so why don't you stop trying to hide in her shadow and _start acting like one?_ "

Everyone stared at each other dumbfounded as Dante exited out the door. "I'm looking for Blake. Feel free to join me once you get your shit together."

Weiss could only slump down as the weight of Dante's words brought her to her knees. She turned to Ruby and Yang, softly calling out their names as she noticed just how distraught they were. Weiss then began to curse herself. She promised Ruby she would try and be the best teammate she could be, even if she didn't quite agree with Ozpin's decision of Ruby's position at first, but today only proved that she couldn't even uphold something as simple as that. All because she had to reopen the wounds of her childhood.

 _I'm sorry…_ is all that Weiss could think of.

* * *

 **[Music: Title Loop 1 (** _ **SMTIII: Nocturne**_ **OST)]**

Blake had no idea just how long she has been running, slumping on the walls of an alleyway with her eyes still red from the crying. Her hands shook as she reached for her bow, slowly tugging on the ribbon until her cat ears bounced freely in the air. She looked down on the fabric in her hands, conflicted on what to do next.

"Why hide what you really are?" Blake instantly turned around at the sound of the cold voice, using her natural night-vision to find whoever was there. "Is it because you're ashamed?"

Blake was able to find the source of the voice, a hooded man walking intimidatingly as the only thing she was able to point out was the blue eyes reminiscent of her teammate Dante. "I asked you a question," he spoke again.

"B-because I wanted people to judge me for what I do and not just who I am," she answered nervously, reaching for Gambol Shroud. "That I am more than just a faunus."

The man could only sigh in disappointment over her answer. "And because of that, you decided to run from your bloodline? To be yet another face in the crowd?" Blake shuddered in response of the implications of her actions. "You are given abilities that put you above the mere humans, yet never have you ever put thought into embracing them. You treat your faunus past as a curse rather than a blessing, and it's only making you weaker."

Blake has had enough of this man's spew, as she quickly sliced at him with her sword, only to be quickly disarmed by a holographic sword… which has sliced her bow in two. "Who are you?" She demanded to know.

"…That is not something to concern yourself with, Blake," The man said, before stepping backwards at the sound of a shotgun aimed towards him, before the monkey faunus from earlier appeared before him, combining his shotguns into a bo-staff. The man thought nothing of him, only giving Blake a terrifying gaze before warping away in a flash of blue light, leaving the cloak behind.

"How did he…?" Blake could only mutter to herself, scared as to what just happened.

"Are you okay?" The monkey faunus asked, sticking a hand out to which Blake lightly brushed aside, pushing herself up. Having gotten a good look at each other, the faunus decided to introduce himself. "Name's Sun, and I gotta say: You look better without the bow."

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **Guys, you have no idea how good I feel right now. I can finally put this chapter behind me and start wrapping up Volume 1 of TDWDTR!**

 **Now, two things I would like to say before signing off:**

 **1\. I'm sure you've noticed on my profile page, but in case you didn't, I'm gonna bite the bullet and start writing up a third crossover fic (It ain't RWBY, don't worry). This will star Future Trunks (Post-Cell Saga) from Dragon Ball Z as he teams up with another anime team that might be unknown to you guys: The Doki Doki Pretty Cure. I'm gonna take a bit of a darker and edgier route with this as well as** **re-balance** **all the characters so that Trunks won't steal the show** **every time** **(unlike a certain Mana Aida...). Now don't worry, this won't replace MGR:REMNANT or anything. Speaking of...**

 **2\. I was looking back at my first fanfic and realized "wow, this sucks." So rage at me all you want, but I decided to effectively reboot Metal Gear Rising: REMNANT. Gone will be the first person perspectives, gone will be the awkward pacing and rapid fire plot, I have ideas on where to take it so stay tuned for more info.**

 **Well, glad I got that off my chest. Now who's hyped for RWBY Volume 6 and Devil May Cry V?**


	7. Mission 7: Coming of Age

**Happy late Christmas, everyone!**

 **Yeah, I wanted this to be done by yesterday, but I was too lazy to write this earlier. Plus, I just got Sonic Mania Plus, Resident Evil HD and Darksiders, and by the time you're reading this, I'll be watching _Into the Spider-Verse_ in theaters.**

 **With that said, enjoy.**

* * *

 **UPDATE 1/9/2019: Okay, so I'll admit, I may have rushed this chapter for the Christmas deadline, and as a result, decided to retcon a certain scene onwards towards the end. This comes to prove that I shall never, under any circumstances, put any kind of due date on my fics and their chapters (there's a reason why I have the _Dragon Ball DokiDoki_ fic listed as [To be Released]). So I hope you enjoy the revision, and Red Dusk 369, I'm sorry if the first edition of Mission 7 left a bitter taste in your mouth.**

* * *

"Something tells me he wasn't exactly your friend, was he?"

 **[Music: Nightfall (** _ **Shenmue**_ **OST)]**

Sun knew how awful of an attempt that was, but he needed something to lighten up the mood after that encounter. It wasn't working, to say the least, given how Blake promptly gave him the could shoulder as she walked over to grab Gambol Shroud, still laying on the floor. "So, what are you doing out here alone?" Sun tried to change the subject.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about…" Blake meekly said.

"C'mon," Sun saw through Blake's lie. "You're a hunter in training, just like me, and I know those people you were with was gotta be your team."

Now it was Blake's turn to give Sun a skeptical look. "You? A hunter?"

"Yeah, visiting from Haven to be exact," Sun confirmed.

"Then why stowaway on a boat?" Blake asked. "Don't hunters in training have designated departure times?"

"Well, yeah," Sun said. "But I couldn't wait any longer and Neptune doesn't exactly like water that much, and Sage and Scarlet wanted to keep Neptune company while he travels by Bullhead so I traveled early."

"Then I don't think you have the right to criticize me if you also willfully abandoned your team." Blake countered.

Sun couldn't help but hiss at her accusation, knowing that she wasn't entirely wrong. "Okay, so maybe I'm not the best person to talk to about sticking together and all that jazz, but…"

All Sun did was turn around once, and by the time he turned back to Blake, she was already gone. He tried looking around to see if she left any trail but sighed when he found nothing. "Something tells me she's gonna be a handful."

* * *

 **[Music: Mission Start 1 (** _ **Devil May Cry 4**_ **OST)]**

How much longer is Blake going to run away from it all?

She fled from the White Fang after realizing just how far they went the downward spiral, she abandoned her team after accidentally revealing her past, and then she ran away from Sun who was just trying to help (despite also abandoning his team with no remorse). Maybe that hooded man was right: She is weak. She was once proud to call herself a Faunus but now, she couldn't bare to show her pride in public. Maybe she doesn't deserve her life in Beacon.

Or maybe… Beacon doesn't deserve her.

Maybe it would be for the best if she didn't come back this time. That way, everyone could live their life to the fullest without her to drag everyone down. "Maybe everyone would be happier if I was gone from their lives."

"And how is running away supposed to make anyone happy?"

 **[Music: Save Room (** _ **Resident Evil Zero**_ **OST)]**

Blake quickly turned around, weapons drawn in hand, expecting to see the hooded man return just to belittle her some more. Instead, she found Dante, perched on the ledge as he leapt towards her, anger shown obviously on his face. "How did you find me?"

"Not many black cats roaming around tonight for one thing," Dante said. "Plus, your cat scent made things easier for me."

Cat scent? "You knew I was a faunus?"

"Yeah," Dante admitted. "If your scent didn't gave it away, then your 'bow' certainly did. Where is that thing, anyways?"

Blake instinctively folded her ears as she moved her hands to feel for her bow, only to remember how it was destroyed by the mysterious hooded man. With as sigh, Blake turned her back on Dante. "Why does it matter? You probably hate me as well."

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" Dante challenged.

"Because I lied to you! To everyone!" she screamed. "I lied about my identity, I lied about my past… you're better off filling my spot on the team for now on, Dante."

"So what, you think coming out as a faunus is gonna change things?" Dante reacted, much to Blake's confusion. "I told you before, I don't hate faunus, only assholes. And don't think you can change my mind by pulling that ex-White Fang card."

Blake was taken aback by her teammate's statement, her ears standing up in shock. "How did you know that?"

"With the way you were projecting earlier, it was pretty obvious you were one of them at one point," Dante reasoned.

Blake frowned as she thought back to the argument with Weiss earlier, and how she ran out on everyone out of fear and rage. She sighed deeply knowing there was no way out of this, looking back at Dante. "Yeah… I was part of the White Fang… You could say I was-"

"Wait, you were White Fang?" Blake and Dante snapped out of their moment, turning towards the source of the voice as they saw Sun pulling himself up from a nearby ledge.

"Sun?" Blake shouted in surprise in anger. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"W-well, you just ran off, so I just wanted to see if you were okay," he tried to justify, only getting disapproved looks from Blake and Dante.

"Dude," Dante spoke up. "No girl's gonna fall for you if you're just gonna… Hey wait a minute…" He trailed off as he took a closer look at Sun, before realizing who he is. "You're the asshole who knocked over my sundae!"

Sun raised his hands in fear from Dante's sudden hostility. "Woah, dude! Whatever I did, I'm… wait… sundae?" he said with confusion.

"Dante, stop that!" Blake called out. "That was just and accident, can't you just let it go?"

Dante looked at Blake before turning back to Sun, agreeing to step off as he sat on the ledge of the building. "He still owes me."

With the shock dying down, Sun turned to Blake as he tried to get the conversation back on track, "So… what's this about you being part of the White Fang?"

Blake sighed as he asked that, hoping the commotion would direct everyone away from her past. But they're already confronting her about it, so she might as well tell the truth. "As long as I can remember… I was a member of the White Fang… in fact… I was even born into it."

 **[Music: Free from Fear (** _ **Resident Evil 3**_ **OST)]**

"The White Fang wasn't always aggressive… once upon a time, the White Fang was a symbol of peace and equality for all faunus/human relationships following the Great War," Blake recalled the early days of the organization. Rather than the red three-clawed, savage wolf insignia they have now, the White Fang originally had a much tamer wolf enclosed in a white circle. "Yet, despite being promised equality, we were subjected to discrimination and hate," She forced herself to remember bitter memories of seeing some of her brethren being beaten into submission by humans, none of them stopping until they were at death's door. "Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, so the White Fang rose up as the voice for our people… and in the front end of every rally and boycott… I was there."

"I thought we were making a difference, but I was nothing more than a youthful optimist. The only thing we proved to humanity was that the Faunus was submissive, that we wouldn't bother fighting back at any cost. All of a sudden, m- the former leader stepped down, and a new leader took his place… with her own way of thinking." She didn't have the heart to tell them that her father once lead the White Fang, continuing on with her story. "Our protests were slowly replaced with organized attacks, rioting shops that refused to serve us, robbing dust carts as retribution for the companies that used faunus labor and didn't give a damn about their wellbeing..." The images played in her mind as she listed their crimes, remembering the violent flames that aroused from the dust shops they attacked, the hostages that plead for their lives as the White Fang mowed them down with their guns… the sadistic laugh of a certain red-haired, bull-horned monster in a black coat.

"And that's when you left, right?" Dante asked.

Blake shook her head disappointingly at the question. "I was too stubborn to leave. Despite the bloodshed, despite all the pain we caused, it was _working_. We were being treated as equals. But not out of respect, out of _fear_. It took me forever to realize that this wasn't how I wanted to be remembered… so when the moment arrived… I left. I thought I could leave my past behind and do some good as a huntress… but… you can see how that turned out."

Everyone stood in silence as Blake finished, obviously feeling the heavy tension in the air. "So…" Sun spoke up. "You _have_ told your friends about this, right?"

"I _never_ wanted anyone of them to find out!" Blake yelled defensively, tears silently rolling down from her eyes. "I'm a terrorist hiding in plain sight with a bow I don't even have anymore! How do you think they'll react if they found out what I've done? What I truly am?"

"Well, for starters, they're gonna wonder why you don't trust them as much as they trust you," Sun theorized.

"Making a lot of assumptions there," Dante said, referring to Weiss and how passive Ruby and Yang were during their argument.

"But still, they gotta be at least worried about you, right?" Sun brought up. "The least you can do is try to patch things up."

Blake wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at Dante and Sun. "I… I can't go back…"

"Blake…" Dante said with a sigh.

"At least not yet," That alone caught the boys' attention, wanting to know what Blake meant. "I want to prove myself to them."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Dante asked.

Sun perked up quickly, thinking of an answer that might satisfy everyone. "Why don't you stop a robbery?"

"A… robbery?" Blake wondered.

"Yeah, think about it! Those White Fang creeps have been stealing Dust left and right. You swoop in, kick their asses and save the day!" Sun clarified.

As stupid as that idea was, Blake and Dante couldn't think of anything else to do. "But… we don't know if it truly is the White Fang behind those robberies," Blake brought up. "For all we know, it could've been Roman stealing those Dust."

"Hey, that's even better!" Sun said.

"Oh yeah? Then riddle me this," Dante interjected. "How do you know when they'll strike?"

Sun shyly turned his head away from their line of sight, scratching his hair as he turned back to them. "Actually… I didn't want to bring this up before, but I heard on the ship that there's gonna be a big shipment of Dust coming in tomorrow night, and I'm talking about SDC _huge_."

"This is starting to sound like a bad web show," Dante muttered to himself, slightly chuckling at the coincidence of everything. "What the hell, I'm in."

Hearing Dante's confirmation brought a smile to Sun's face, as he turned towards Blake for her answer. "It's a long shot, but at this point, I'll take what I can get."

* * *

"BLAAAAAAAKE? DAAAAANTE?"

"BLAAAAAAAAKE! DAAAAANTE!"

"BLAKE, DANTE, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Ruby and Yang has been at this for almost the entire morning, trying desperately to find their lost teammates. Weiss was there too, a few steps away from the Rose-Xiao Long sisters, but she was silent. She wasn't smug or annoyed, but was only looking at the sidewalk pavement as they made their search around the city.

"Weiiiis, you're not helping!" Ruby complained, snapping Weiss out of her funk as she only looked at her and Yang in silence.

"What? Got nothing to say?" Yang taunted. "That's a first."

"Yang, stop it!" Ruby came to Weiss' aid. "We already have a lot to deal with, _do not_ do this right now!"

Yang looked at her sister before turning back to Weiss, lilac eyes slowly turning red as she turned her back on her.

"Look, I get it, Weiss said some bad stuff yesterday," Ruby started.

"Understatement," Yang flatly said.

"Least you could do is not beat her head with it every five seconds."

"Maybe I wouldn't if you didn't insist on bringing her with us."

"She has every right to know Blake's side as much as we do!"

"I think that sounds like a bad idea."

"And I think you all look marvelous today!" Everyone jumped back as Penny threw in her two cents to the conversation, not really knowing what it was even about.

"GAHPENNYWHEREYOUCOMEFROM?" Ruby yelled fanatically.

"Hello, friends!" Penny greeted with a smile, ignoring Ruby's shock. "What are you all doing today?"

As Ruby was about to answer, Yang moved in between them to answer for her sister. "We're looking for Blake."

"Oh no!" Penny gave a slight gasp. "What happened to Blake?"

"She ran off last night. You can thank _cold, cold heart_ here for it," Yang answered, throwing another death glare towards Weiss, much to Ruby's frustration.

"Was it because of her ears, Weiss?" Penny asked, knowing at least how strained human/Faunus relationships are.

That line gartered everyone's attention, confused on what RW_Y meant by Blake's ears. "What ears?" Weiss asked.

"Did Blake not have cat ears?" Penny wondered, as she assumed that they would've known about it already.

"Cat ears?" Ruby wondered. "Blake had a cute… little… bow…"

The obvious revelation did nothing but made the team look foolish, standing there in pure silence as nothing but the wind made a noise.

"Do you need any assistance in finding Blake, Friend Ruby?" Penny asked, breaking the silence with generosity.

"Uh, that's real nice, but…" Ruby started, only to trail off when a thought enter her head. "Actually, we _would_ like for you to help us!"

"What?" Yang almost yelled in confusion.

"Yeah! We can split up, one pair looks in one direction, another goes in the other," Ruby explained, earning a smile from the strange girl Penny.

Yang formed an idea herself, realizing she can get away from Weiss using her sister's plan. "Well, since you offered…"

"Actually, Yang, I was thinking Penny and I go together," Ruby cut her sister off. Yang didn't had time to complain as Ruby brought herself closer to her to whispering distance. "Listen, I need you to patch things up with Weiss while I'm gone, okay?"

"But-" Yang try to argue, but Ruby and Penny had already left, shouting them good luck as they began their search for Blake. She turned to Weiss, who only sheepishly looked away upon seeing her red eyes. Yang only let out a frustrated sigh as she signaled Weiss to follow her at a distance.

* * *

 **[Music: Sherry's Theme (** _ **Resident Evil 2**_ **OST)]**

"Friend Ruby."

"Yeah Penny?"

"I noticed Dante was not with your team. Where is Dante?"

Ruby stopped in her tracks as Penny's question lingered in her mind for a bit, recalling his own outburst last night shortly after Blake left. "He… He's searching for Blake as well."

"Then why is he not with you right now?" Penny wondered.

"Well…" Ruby trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Is Dante mad at your team?" Penny theorized.

Ruby sighed as her accusation wasn't that far off, "Yeah… Dante's mad at us because of Blake."

"Was it because Weiss was mad at Blake?"

"That's… one of the reasons why," Ruby slumped down as she tried to silently sneak those words out.

"Were you and Yang mad at Blake?" Penny asked.

Ruby shook her head at the thought of getting angry towards one of her teammates, turning towards Penny with a melancholic face. "We weren't mad at Blake… just confused. Turns out, she wasn't who we thought she was…"

"Was Blake secretly a male?" Ruby did a double take at Penny's outlandish theory, not knowing where that idea came from.

"N-no! Nothing like that! But… she ran off before she could say anything." Ruby clarified. "And Dante was mad because Yang and I sorta… let it happened."

Seeing Ruby down made Penny sad too. She may not have that much experience with interaction, but she still decided to walk up to her friend, gently patting her on the shoulder as she met Ruby's silver eyes. "Ruby… I may not have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

"Yeah…" Ruby replied, small tear droplets forming in her eyes. "Me too…"

* * *

After thanking the old shopkeeper, Yang sighed in frustration as their search turned up fruitless. She leaned back on the wall just outside of the shop, turning to Weiss who was as silent as ever throughout the whole day. "You really don't care if we find her, do you?"

Though she remained silent, Weiss could feel her anger boiling up as Yang continued to antagonized her. Granted, her claims were not without merit, but it was doubly frustrating considering the hypocrisy of her actions.

"I'm honestly surprised that you didn't think to go to the police," Yang continued to mock. "Maybe they could help you by locking her up for her 'crimes.'"

Weiss had enough as she clenched her fists in anger, turning to Yang with a stern voice. "You're not entirely guiltless yourself, _Yang_ ," she spat her name out with a hint of venom.

Yang turned to Weiss, surprised and enraged by her words as she walked close to her. "What did you say?"

"Didn't Dante called you and Ruby out on your bystanding last night?" Weiss brought up.

"At least I didn't start that fight!" Yang yelled with ferocity.

"But you certainly didn't do a lot to end it," Weiss countered back.

She only had a second to move out of the way the moment she noticed Yang launching her fist at her, eyes filled with fury as her hair began to glow a blazing aura. Using her dilation glyphs, Weiss was able to increase her speed so she could just barely dodge Yang's ferocious punches. "Yang, stop it!" The heiress yelled out, attempting to get her savage partner under control.

"I'VE. HAD. ENOUGH!" Yang yelled with tears in her eyes, as all of her attempts of striking down Weiss were in vain. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US? THAT YOU HAVE EVERY REASON TO TALK DOWN TO ANY OF US? YOU _DON'T!_ YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN A SPOILED BITCH!"

" _I KNOW THAT!_ " Weiss yelled back, suspending Yang's limbs using her glyphs. "I know that…" she repeated, expressing genuine regret as she slowly looked down to the floor. "I know that my behavior was unacceptable this entire time, and that you have every right to hate me, _especially_ after how I acted towards your sister and Blake."

Yang could only breath heavily as she was still trapped, but she felt her rage slowly subdue upon seeing Weiss admitting her faults. "That doesn't mean I'll instantly forgive you… that and for blowing up on me."

"I had to," Weiss started to justify. "Because we both know that Dante was right about you… yet you refused to accept it." Yang's eyes widened as she recognized the truth in her words, her body starting to relax as Weiss continued. "None of us are guiltless, yet you antagonized me so you could rid yourself of it. But believe me, it's only going to cost you in the long term."

"H-how do you know I wasn't just attacking you because?" Yang asked.

Weiss only looked at her as she deactivated her glyphs, freeing Yang from her magical prison. "Because I would've done the same thing in your shoes."

Yang covered her face with her hand as she heard her confession, realizing how unjust she has been to Weiss throughout the entire day with a silent sob. She felt a hand being placed gently on her shoulder, looking up to see Weiss consoling her with an earnest smile. "Don't worry, Yang," she said. "We'll find her."

Yang wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm, giving a weak smile back. "H-heh, what's with the sudden change?"

"I made a promise to Ruby that I would be the best teammate she ever had," Weiss answered, raising Yang up with newfound determination. "And I intend to keep it."

* * *

Hours has passed, and the warm sun shining over Vale was replaced with the eerie glow of the shattered moon reflecting over the docks. Just as Sun's sources said, large containers featuring Dust extracted by the Schnee Dust Company was all over the place, with each one featuring the telltale snowflake insignia Weiss' family was known for. Blake and Dante were on the roof of the nearby buildings, scanning the area using their scrolls for any sign of criminal activity. As for Sun…

"Hey, I stole you guys some food."

While he had the best intentions bringing apples to the rendezvous point, Blake couldn't help but scold him for his actions. "Must you always break the law without a second thought?"

"I dunno," Sun replied. "Weren't you part of a cult?" It didn't take him long to notice the deadly glare she gave to him in return, realizing that now was a good time to shut up.

"Hey, lighten up, Blake," Dante said, biting into the apple. "Food is food, can't really complain about it unless it's olives."

Just then, the roaring sounds of a Bullhead dropship began to intensify over the horizon, activating its searchlights as it scanned the area for a landing zone. Dropping down in an empty spot, the doors opened up, revealing masked men in white outfits and black hoodies… each with the blood red wolf symbol Blake knows all too well.

"Oh no…" she could only whisper in fear and surprise.

Dante and Sun both looked at where Blake was staring at, noticing the White Fang soldiers walking out of the dropship. "I assume those guys are it?" Dante asked, the first time he has ever seen them before.

"Unfortunately," Blake answered with melancholy.

On ground, one of them signaled the others to grab the tow cables, connecting the canisters to the ship as the cargo bay opened. Sun turned to Blake, noticing the pained expression she had. "You didn't really think they'd be behind this, did you?"

"No," Blake softly spoke. "Deep down, I think I knew…" _I just didn't want to be right._

"Hey! What's the hold up?" A new, annoyed voice spoke as he stepped out of the ship. A ginger-haired man sporting a fancy white coat wearing a black bowler hat while wielding a black cane made himself known as he smacked one of the White Fang soldier for what he believed to be incompetence as he tossed him a tow cable. "In case you couldn't tell, we're not the most inconspicuous of thieves at the moment, so why don't you _animals_ pick up the pace _?"_

 **[Music: Tokyo Conception (** _ **SMTIII: Nocturne**_ **OST)]**

Blake narrowed her eyes in frustration, focusing all of her anger on the thief known to many as Roman Torchwick. "This isn't right," she growled, stand up as she unsheathed Gambol Shroud, much to the alarm of Dante and Sun. "The White Fang would _never_ work with a human."

"Blake?" Sun called out, knowing exactly how this would end.

" _ **Especially not one like HIM!**_ "

Blake leaped off of the roof to the crowd below, moving faster than Dante or Sun could stop her as she tossed her ribbon-tied blade in between the legs of one of the soldiers, earning their attention as she propelled herself towards them, knocking out one of the guards on impact as she made a mad dash towards Roman, phasing behind him using her afterimage semblance as she grabbed him in a hold, pressing her blade to his throat.

"Oh for the love of-" Roman couldn't finish his line as Blake stomped the back of his leg, forcing him to kneel as she pressed the blade tighter.

"NOBODY MOVE!" Blake yelled out, noticing all of the guns pointed straight at her. Using the publicity, Blake whipped her head upwards, flicking her feline ears to call attention to them, proving her heritage to the other Faunus. "Brothers of the White Fang!" she called them out. "Why are you aiding this _scum?_ "

The soldiers began to slowly lower their guns when confronted with this question. Despite this, Blake held on to her blade, still resting upon the thief's throat as he suddenly gave out a small chuckle. "Oh, kitty cat…" he taunted. "Didn't you get the memo? The White Fang and I have reached a… mutual agreement."

His response only brought out even more fury rested in Blake, coming dangerously close to drawing blood, refusing to believe the White Fang would ever strike a deal with Roman. _Not in a million years!_ She thought. " _Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to you and your little operation,"_ she threatened.

"Ooh, sharp claws! I like that!" Roman teased. "But… I wouldn't exactly call our operation 'little.'" He called attention to the two other Bullheads circling around the docks, distracting Blake long enough for him to point his cane towards her abdomen.

 _Click!_

" _So long, Kitty…"_

 _ **BOOM!**_

* * *

Ruby sighed as she looked down on her scroll, seeing the time change to 10 PM sharp. A day wasted and still no sign of Blake. Seeing Ruby down made Penny down too, saddened from how she was unable to fulfil her duty in finding her friend's missing teammate. Ruby then looked up to the night sky, as the luminescent moon provided light for the both of them. "Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow…" Ruby surrendered.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The explosion was more than enough to capture their attention, as they both stared in the direction of the blast, seeing smoke trails emitting from the docks. "Is it possible Blake is involved with the explosion?" Penny wondered.

Ruby didn't need to even respond to know that something was amiss. With a kick-off, Ruby used her semblance to blast her way to the docks in a burst of speed and rose pedals. Penny followed too, running after Ruby with incredible speed of her own, with each step releasing a tiny burst of green lightning every time.

* * *

 **[Music: Agni & Rudra Battle (** _ **Devil May Cry 3**_ **OST)]**

Blake was fortunate to have pushed Roman away at the last second, using her Aura to shield herself from the point-blank blast from his cane. Though the explosion did left her a bit disoriented, she was able to recover just in time to avoid a few more blasts launched by Roman. Dodging swiftly, Blake used her semblance to her advantage as she hid behind one of the many Dust containers scattered throughout the docks, much to the thief's annoyance.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…" Roman muttered to himself, walking silently towards one of the containers before getting slammed to the ground by a dive kick from Dante himself, skidding across the pavement as he rode on top of him like a skateboard. As soon as he came to a screeching halt, Roman struck back at his assailant with a swipe of his cane, forcing the half-demon to backflip away from him. With proper distance, Roman slammed his fist to the ground before loading more fire dust into Melodic Cudgel, upping the intensity of each shot out of revenge.

Dante was unfazed by the bigger missiles, however, as he perfectly timed each block to negate and absorb some of the damage those shots would have caused. Seeing him unscathed made Roman even more pissed, whipping his cane to launch his wire hook, snatching onto Dante's hand as he pulled his capture towards him. Dante took advantage of this as he twisted his whole body, delivering a stunning roundhouse that knocked back Roman a few steps, before launching Sun from above him, delivering an overhead slam with his staff formed weapon, Ruyi Jingu Bang. Dante followed up with Sun's attack with his own strikes from Cerberus, as Sun disconnected his staff into twin gunchuck forms, relentlessly attacking him faster than he can recover.

"He's MINE!" Blake yelled, dispersing Dante and Sun as she ran towards Roman. The sudden stop to their attacks gave the thief all the time he needed to block Blake's sword swipes with his cane, trying to counter but failing due to her semblance. Of course, her luck didn't last forever, as Roman launched his wire hook once more, this time snagging Blake by her neck as he slammed her towards one of the containers, before launching her to the armed troops of the White Fang.

Sun ran off after Blake, leaving Dante alone with Roman. He spun Cerberus around his wrist, each revolution creating a thicker cold mist every time, as Dante ran towards his target, leaping above him as he prepared to trap him in an icy prison.

What he didn't account for was a girl to suddenly materialize from invisible glass, delivering a punishing kick to his side that sent Dante flying.

Dante recovered from the surprise attack, skidding to a stand still as he looked at his attacker. Sassy lost child using a pink parasol, wearing a white coat with pink accents, complete with long hair that had a swirl of black, pink and white, reminiscent of an ice cream cone. "Neo," Roman identified her as. "Nice of you to stop by."

Dante smirk as he got up, grabbing the hilt of Rebellion as he stared down the girl. "Nice trick," he snarked. "Do you fetch and roll over, too?"

Neo slyly walked up to Dante in response, surprising him with her short stature as her height reached up to his chest. Didn't make her any less dangerous, however, as Dante's first swing missed when Neo sidestepped by an inch, kneeing him in the stomach in the process. Staggering, Dante was unable to notice Neo slide under him, who delivered a backslash thanks to the hidden blade in her parasol. The attack spun Dante around, who only had ample time to parry her blows using Rebellion. He began to wind up attack as soon as he saw an opening, smirking as his sword made contact…

…only to be surprised by Neo shattering into frail glass. Amidst the confusion, Dante was suddenly stabbed in the chest as Neo made herself known on top of him, kicking him to his back against one of the containers as she removed her sword from the wound. As she landed, Neo noticed how Dante dropped his sword, as it laid still on the ground. With a sadistic grin, she lifted the sword for herself, using all of her strength to hold it, as she ran towards Dante, launching Rebelling like a javelin that pinned him to the container in a brutal fatality. Satisfied with her kill, Neo turned her back to the corpse, strutting away with glee.

That is, until she saw another Dante stand before her. "Nice trick," he taunted.

Confused, she turned to the Dante pinned down with his sword, only to see him give out a distorted laugh as he… it slowly rose its head at her, eyes turning red as all color drained from him until he was pure black, only for him and his sword to melt away, connecting with Dante's shadow. Neo was beyond scared, wondering if the person walking towards her can be killed at all. She didn't want to risk it any more, so preparing her umbrella, Neo was ready to bail.

Only for Dante to grab her by her ankles, giving a menacing grin straight at her. "But mine are better…"

Dante hammer-swung Neo to the ground behind him, whipping out Agni and Rudra as he summoned a fire tornado that launched her high into the sky. He then tossed Rebellion straight at his airborne target, using the magical nature of the sword to drag her down to the earth, pulling out his blade as he launched a relentless flurry of sword strikes that drained her Aura to nothing. With one final swing, Neo was hurled into one of the dust containers, knocking her out cold upon impact. The Devil Hunter walked up to her unconscious body, whipping out Cerberus to trap her in a block of ice, before hunting down Torchwick.

* * *

With Dante occupied with Neo and the annoying Faunus dealing with the White Fang troops, Roman took the opportunity granted to turn tail from the raging battles, knowing that it was a matter of time until yet _another_ annoyance comes his way. He sighed as he leaned back on one of the containers, wondering how this situation can get any worse.

 _BLAM!_

"Spoke too soon," Roman muttered, having just dodged a sniper bullet. _Wait… sniper bullet?_ He trailed the trajectory of the bullet to its source, revealing to be nothing else than Ruby Rose herself. "Little Red, Little Red!" he called out. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Ruby didn't respond, reloading her rounds as she took aim once more. "Ruby?" The voice of Penny shook her out of her concentration, looking back at her friend who was able to catch up to her speed. "What is going on? Did you find your friends?"

"Penny get back!" Ruby warned her. But her distraction was all Roman needed to take aim, delivering another super-charged blast that hit Ruby head on, launching her from her position to a few feet behind Penny.

"FRIEND RUBY!" Penny cried out in fear, rushing to her friend as she inspected her injuries. She was relieved to find out that her Aura shielded most of the damage, but Ruby herself was rendered unconscious by both the blast and the impact. Penny slowly rose up when she heard the maniacal laughter of one Roman Torchwick, as she stared beyond the rooftop to the battlefield below. "Do not worry, Ruby," she said in an assuring voice. " _I am combat ready._ "

As soon as she said those words, Penny's body went rigid, her pupils constricting to fine red points as she scanned the area for any hostiles affiliated with Roman or the White Fang. Having confirmed the amount of enemies, the hatch on her backpack opened, deploying two sets of five floating swords hovering side by side, each tethered to her by a fine wire.

 **[Music: Uncanny Noise (** _ **Devil May Cry 2**_ **OST)]**

Penny leapt off the building in a single bound, launching all of her swords at the White Fang's weapons, each on piercing through them to permanently disable them. Upon landing, the rest of the soldiers took noticed of her, as they began to open fire on the new enemy. However, her swords automatically moved in to deflect each and every bullet, as Penny slowly stood up with glowing red trails coming from her eyes, as she stared at the opposition with an unnerving blank expression. She then retaliated by moving her swords in a sweeping motion to her right, knocking out a large group of enemies as she dragged in another group with an inwards sweep to her left, launching them all up in the air as she sent her swords straight at her airborne targets, slamming them all down to the ground in a knockout. She turned around to another incoming group, walking slowly towards them as her swords went to work, striking down each White Fang solider, destroying every weapon, all with a cold and unnatural stare.

The sounds of a Bullhead preparing to take off quickly caught her attention, as Penny deployed two of her swords to the ground to keep her pinned, as she sent the rest out to catch the fleeting ship. The vehicle wouldn't back down without a fight, as its engine roared louder trying to break free from Penny's iron grip, but Penny proved to be superior as she pulled the ship down to earth, causing it to explode in a violent explosion. Just then, three more Bullheads, each armed with Gatling guns, made themselves known, opening fire on Penny as her swords once again deflected every shot. Penny decided it was time to finish this, as her weapons position in front of her, forming a ring aimed at one of the ships as they morphed to gun mode. As her blades transformed, Penny began glowing a green aura that soon faded into her backpack, energy surging through her wires as her guns began to violently crackle with electricity, muzzles glowing with a heavy _whirr_ -ing sound as their power grew more and more. With everything she got, Penny fired her laser, effortlessly piercing through the targeted Bullhead causing it to explode on contact. Mustering all of her strength, Penny dragged her laser to cut through the other two ships, both of which suffered the same fate as the first.

With all hostiles cleared, her guns died down, transforming back into swords as they flew back into Penny's backpack in a unified manner. Penny herself, however, slumped to her knees in exhaustion, having exerted all of her energy in that attack, as she sat still motionless, head aimed at the ground.

* * *

Roman has had enough bullshit for one night.

What with the crazy cat Faunus and her boyfriend(?) monkey and red-coated Schnee(?), it was amazing how he was able to put up with all of this craziness for one night. As he walked into one of the Bullheads, he realized that Neo hasn't returned from her bout with the red-coat, so, out of concern, he quickly scanned the area for where she could be, only to find her frozen in ice. "NEO!" he screamed out as he rushed to her aid, only to receive a dropkick to the face from a certain hunter. "You!" Roman called out, aiming his cane towards the enemy.

"Some heist this turned out to be, huh?" Dante mocked, clearly taking pleasure in Roman's growing frustration. "Sorry if I roughed your girl up a bit, but she attacked first."

Roman has had enough of him. Flipping open the nozzle, he fired a shot directly at Dante, who was able to grab it with his bare hands. With a devilish smirk, he chucked the blast straight towards one of the Bullhead's engine, creating a terrifying explosion as Roman fell to the floor in disbelief. He struggled to get up as the hunter walked towards him in a menacing fashion. "W-who the hell are you?" Roman weakly asked.

Dante smirked as he stopped inches away from his face. "Just a guy who loves to party!" Electricity formed in his hand, shaping into a demonic guitar as Dante winded up a powerful sonic blast, blowing Roman away before falling unconscious on the floor. With the thief down, Dante slung the knocked-out criminal over his shoulder, ready to pair him with his partner in crime for the police to deal with, before noticing a neon green laser blast into the sky. "What the hell?" he questioned to himself, going towards the source of the blast as it died down.

* * *

Moments later, life returned to her eyes, blinking to reorient herself as she raised her head up, her cheerful personality coming in full force once more. "Salutations!" she exclaimed, to no one in particular. As soon as she realized what she has done, Penny quickly stood up to her feet, looking around the area before sighing in relief that no one saw her, running away from the docks for safe measure.

Unknown to her, however, was a certain red-coated hunter growing even more skeptical, wondering why Penny would have to sneak her way out...

* * *

 **[Music: Eva's Theme (** _ **Devil May Cry**_ **OST)]**

Ruby woke up in a daze to the sound of police sirens closing in on the docks, shaking her head wondering where Penny and Roman went. As soon as she was fully awake, she looked over the roof, seeing the grounds filled with incapacitated White Fang as well as a wrecked Bullheads all over the place. She turned to get off the building, only to be stopped by Dante himself. She silently muttered his name, last night's argument still fresh in her mind. "L-listen, Dante, a-about last night, I-"

Dante raised his hand, signaling Ruby to stop. "Hey, we all say things we regret," he said. "Don't sweat it. Now come on, everyone's waiting for you."

Ruby followed after Dante, meeting on solid ground as she smiled upon seeing Blake for the first time in what felt like forever. She rushed towards her, giving her friend a friendly hug as she wondered what happened to her and her bow. Blake, Sun and Dante gave an abridged version of what happened since last night, as Ruby experienced a whole range of emotions from hearing Blake's tale. Nonetheless, the past is in the past, as Ruby only smiled knowing that Blake was safe.

Her smile slowly faltered as soon as she saw Weiss and Yang, however. They weren't mad at each other, and Weiss seemed to be in a much better mood than before, yet she couldn't help but feel paranoid at what might follow. "W-Weiss! It's not what you think! Blake told me everything, she had cat ears and they're actually kinda cute…"

Weiss ignored her as she met eye to eye with Blake, giving a deep sigh as she softly said her name.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

Both girls looked at each other in surprised as they spoke in unison. "You first…" Blake said.

"I'm sorry for antagonizing you yesterday," Weiss apologized. "And for digging up both of our pasts."

"It's fine… We were both afraid…" Blake managed to say. "And I apologize for not being honest with all of you about my past. But I just want to let you all know that I'm no longer affiliated with the White Fang."

Weiss softly smiled upon hearing Blake's apology. "Then that's all that matters. But the next time something this big comes up, I want you to come to us before running off and talking to some…" Weiss stopped herself, seeing Sun in the background give a little wave. "Somebody else."

Blake accepted Weiss' demand, as Ruby brought them in a group hug in excitement. "Yeah! Team RWBY(D) is back together again!"

Yang gave everyone a soft smile as the police locked up the last of the White Fang members. "Come on, we can do reunions back at Beacon. Hopefully before Goodwitch throws a hissy fit."

 **[Music ends]**

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began to make their leave… only for Dante to stop when he felt a familiar presence close by. He searched around him only to see a lone figure standing on top of one of the cranes. Though he was too far out to identify accurately, Dante knew it was him. After all, he didn't wear that blue coat just for show.

"Yo, Dante! You coming?" Yang called out, pulling Dante's attention long enough for the figure to disappear. But Dante still held on to his skeptical look as he walked with the group, wondering how long until they meet face to face once more.

As they were walking out, Weiss noticed one person was missing from before. "Hey Ruby, where's Penny?"

* * *

"You should know better than to go running off."

Penny only sat in silence, staring out the window of a car as she sees Ruby reunite with her team. It was unfair how she was denied the chance to say goodbye to them, but she knew better than to object her superiors. "I know, sir. I am sorry."

The person could only give a gentle sigh as the car began to drive away from the commotion. "Fret not, Penny. Your time will come…"

* * *

" _In recent events, Notorious thief Roman Torchwick, alongside his companion Neopolitan as well as members of the White Fang were spotted and arrested at the Vale Docks earlier tonight. According to Beacon Student and Hunter-in-training Ruby Rose, the criminal group was plotting to steal large quantities of dust being shipped from Atlas via the Schnee Dust Company, a scheme foiled by other hunters-in-training. However, further reports included strange green lights being seen at the scene of the crime, prompting civilians to discuss whether or not it was involved with General Ironwood's supposedly secret project. In other news-"_

Ozpin turned off the news report as he leaned back in his chair, shaking his head as he went for another sip of coffee. "You're treading on thin ice, James…"

Just then, a knock on his office doors earned his attention. "You may enter," Ozpin said.

The doors burst open to reveal one Qrow Branwen, drinking from his signature flask as he gave a small wave towards Beacon's headmaster. "Sup, Oz? Ya miss me?"

"I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting your presence this late at night," Ozpin said.

"Yeah, well, I got some things I couldn't fit in one text, ya know," Qrow justified, taking a seat as his friendly demeanor suddenly turned serious. "First off, your hunch was right. The Queen does have pawns."

Ozpin could only close his eyes as he gathered his thoughts on the situation. "And I doubt you know where they are or what they're planning, do you?"

"Not a clue," Qrow answered. "But to change the subject a bit… is it true you have a Son of Sparda here in Beacon?"

"Correct," Ozpin answered. "I assume what you have relates to him?"

"Yeah, I found his brother," Qrow flatly stated.

Ozpin immediately looked up to Qrow, desperate for information. "How did you find him? Where is he?"

"Had a source to confirm his existence. Unfortunately…" Qrow trailed off, taking another drink as he gathered his thoughts. "He's working with _them._ "

It was one of the few time Qrow has seen Ozpin get close to pissed, growling disappointingly as he sat back down, hand covering his face. "Then we are at a disadvantage. I hope for Dante's sake… he never finds out."

* * *

The members of RWBY was all relaxing on top of the Beacon roofs, comforted by the white light of the moon as they put all their doubts and worries behind them. "You know?" Ruby spoke. "This feels nice. Granted, Roman was arrested before we could find out why he was even involved with the White Fang in the first place, but at least that's one less criminal we have to deal with!"

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "If only Dante was here with us. Where is he anyways?"

"Said he and Sun went to get something real quick," Blake answered. "I just hope they're okay…"

Just then, Dante and Sun burst through the doors, each holding two boxes of pizzas. "Pizza time!" they both exclaimed.

Everyone got up in excitement as they popped open the boxes, revealing pies topped with extra pepperonis and crust filled with cheese. Each of them gathered a slice, as they sat over the ledge in relaxation. "So, to our next four years at Beacon?" Dante asked.

"To our next four years at Beacon," everyone except Sun responded at once, but he knew what they were getting at.

No one knows what life has in store for them, but this was their home now.

And nothing will change that.

 **[Volume 1 Ending Theme: Coming of Age – Breaking Point]**

* * *

 **MISSION CLEAR**

 **Demon Hunter Rank: _S_**

* * *

 **And just like that, Volume 1 is finally finished after two years!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this, because depending on how fast I get my _Dragon Ball Z x DokiDoki Pretty Cure_ fic out, Volume 2 will take a while. But I enjoy seeing the overwhelming support I get for this story, I really do. That's why I wanted to do something grand for the Volume 1 finale.**

 **As for the fic I'm working on, the story goes as follows: After killing the Future Androids and Cell, Trunks' time machine malfunctions trying to return to the past, as he ends up in another timeline radically different from the ones he's used to. Now stuck between an ongoing war between the Pretty Cures and the King Selfish, Trunks must once again return to battle to save the world.**

 **As mentioned before, the fic will also have a darker and edgier take on some plot elements from the original DDPC, as well as** **re-balanced** **the characters so Trunks wouldn't oneshot them all. I'm hoping you'll enjoy it once it's out, despite the Pretty Cures niche reputation in the west.**

 **With that said, happy holidays and have a happy New Year**

* * *

 **[Music: Mission Start 2 (** _ **Devil May Cry 4**_ **OST)]**

"Looks like Roman failed hard."

"Should've known Cinder was expecting too much from him."

"I know, right? Shame we couldn't do much while we're here."

"And you will continue to lay low until the time is nigh," The sound of Cinder's calm, yet commanding voice was enough to make Mercury and Emerald stop in their tracks, turning around to see the fury in her face.

"But, what about the dust? And the White Fang? They're not going to follow us after what happened tonight!" Emerald argued. It was against her better judgement, but she at least had to know what her master thought of all this.

"Do not worry, Emerald," Cinder calmed her with an alluring stroke down her cheek. "Thankfully, I had a back-up in case something were to go awry."

"And what would that be?" The sound of a fourth voice caught everyone by surprise, with everyone's heads pointing towards the source of it. Cinder lightly smirked upon seeing Vergil at the entrance, with Emerald and Mercury acting unnerved towards the new figure.

"Tell me," Cinder started, directing her attention towards the blue-clad Son of Sparda. "How much of Remnant do you know?"

"Why do you want to know?" Vergil asked.

Cinder only gave out a light chuckle as she got closer. "Have you ever heard of a man named Dr. Merlot?"


	8. Secret Missions 1-4

**Alright, so I know I should be working on that** _Dragon Ball Doki Doki_ **story, but I couldn't just leave this story off at 7 chapters when I said that I'll be going by a 4-4 rule when it comes to stories. So, I decided to dedicate this chapter to Secret Missions! (AKA: Writing Prompt** **Wednesday** **entries that I posted onto r/RWBY months ago.) Also, this chapter serves as an update that I went back and changed a few scenes in Mission 2, 3 and 7, either due to new information being present, or because I didn't like how I handled them before and decided to fix them.**

* * *

 **This first one was from 1/31/2018, WPW #68. The prompt was "** **Jacques Schnee finds himself being hunted by Grimm in an abandoned factory near Atlas's border. He is rescued by a huntress/huntsman who hates him." So, I decided to use DMC1 Dante in place of the huntsman because even though I like DMC3, I still think his DMC1 design was better.**

* * *

Jacques was the type of man that was never satisfied with what he has, so of course it would make perfect sense for someone like him to even think of turning an abandoned factory into something that could benefit him financially. Bringing his best guards, Jacques commanded them to do a clean sweep of any Grimm that might be left wandering within the runs, mostly for his safety.

It's been nearly an hour and he hasn't heard anything back yet... and it was starting to piss him off.

"I swear, if I find those two slacking off..." he grumbled as he entered the factory himself. And just by entering, he could tell something was off from the heavy air alone. The floor was cold and damp, though that was a given due to their location, but he could swore he felt the faint smell of blood coming from somewhere deeper within. And while he never noticed it, red eyes were marking him as he trekked through the factory. It wasn't long until he came across the fresh corpses of the men he sent earlier.

Backing off from the horrendous sight, he accidentally bumped into something. It was big, furry, breathing heavily and its eyes were filled with blood-lust...

With a terrifying scream, Jacques ran, attracting the attention of every other Grimm resting there. His unfamiliarity of the factory has caused him to stumble a lot on wrecked pieces and rusted tools, before coming across a dead end. He hugged the wall as tightly as he can, fearing for the black army standing before him...

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

He opened his eyes in response to the gun fire. spotting three of the accursed creatures lying dead on the ground, bullet holes embedded in the back of the wolves' heads. Perhaps they sent backup before dying?

Then, to his surprise, a broad sword, with a hilt modeled after a demon's skull, appeared out of nowhere, impaling another Grimm as the owner came by, landing hard on its disappearing corpse. A man in his young twenties, wearing a red coat with a black long-sleeve shirt underneath it, his head topped with white hair, parted down the middle so his ice-blue eyes can see through them. Even though Jacques should be grateful for this miracle, his bias against hunters still won out. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

With a sigh, the red-coated hunter replied deadpan tone, "You were supposed to say 'Thank you!'" After which, he pulled out a black handgun with 'Ebony' etched on the side, firing off a bullet at an approaching Grimm behind him without looking, "And consider yourself lucky that butler of yours paid me to save you, because quite honestly, I don't mind a little demon-on-demon curb-stomp as long as you're one of them."

"Excuse me?"

"You wanna live, or not?" He asked. this time, promptly causing the bigot CEO to purse his lips for once. "Then shut up and let me do my job!"

The battle was of no contest, as the hunter spent no time laying waste to the hordes of Grimm. Powerful Ursa Majors and Alpha Beowulves were no match to the sheer strength and speed of his sword and guns. Whenever a new Grimm reared its ugly head on their escort, the hunter made sure to shoot it square in the head, regardless of the thickness of their bone plating.

When they finally made it out, the two were greeted by an airship, with Klein appearing out of the door to meet them, "Oh, thank god you are alright sir!" He then turned to the hunter, shaking his hand out of gratitude, "And thank you, for keeping Mr. Schnee safe!"

"Hey, it's just what I do," he said. "Now about my pay..."

"Ah yes, I'll be sure to pay you up front when we return to the Manor."

Such a conversation didn't escape Jacques, for he turned to the both of them for answers, "How much are we dealing with here?"

"He only requested 500 Lien, sir."

"500?"

"Hey, you're a big boy, you'll get it back," the hunter taunted. "Unless you want me to take half of your company's shares..."

"Are you kidding me? That's robbery!"

"Then I don't wanna hear you complain on our way back!" He threatened. "Until then, you can catch me splitting beers with the missus. She seems like a nice gal! Nicer than you, that is!"

As the airship returned home, Jacques couldn't tell which was worse: Getting saved by an uncouth huntsman, or having his wife swooned by that very same huntsman.

* * *

 **Imagine trying to explain to the Schneeblings that their father was cucked by a half-demon descendant of Sparda.**

 **They probably wouldn't care (except Whitley, but what can he do?)**

* * *

 **This next one was written on 2/14/2018, WPW #70. The prompt was "** **Cinder refuses to admit she's in love with [insert character]. (Bonus points if it's NOT Jaune)" I remember how I got a few reviews asking about shipping (still don't plan on having any) and decided to play around with the idea of Cinder having the hots (kek) for Vergil (despite the fact that he wouldn't hook up with anyone except for a no-named prostitute who would give birth to his son, Nero).**

* * *

I had no need for human emotion. All they were was a hindrance.

And yet, I couldn't explain this feeling I have whenever I looked at him.

I knew that Vergil was aloof to Salem's cause. After all, he admitted to all of us that he's only in this to take Dante's amulet. He never did tell me the significance those things, but I could tell they were important somehow. Sometimes, I would see him outside the balcony, staring into the night sky as if he was contemplating something. I knew better than to meddle into other's affairs unless it involved me somehow, but is it strange to say that I want voluntary get involved?

What am I saying? He has his motivations, I have mine. What point is there to prying his origins?

But what if his mysterious nature is part of why I'm feeling this? The weapons he carried, the styles he fought with, and the way his coat waved with the wind the night I met him... the night I saw him massacre an army of Grimm without any hesitation or mistakes. Vergil's gracefulness mixed with brutality told me that he was not one to be submissive. The moment he draws his blade, it was him was was in control.

Maybe it's not just that... maybe it's because he made me experience fear in the first time in forever. Salem nearly killed me when I brought Vergil to her domain, despite the fact that I never heard of the Legend of Sparda until recently. And then there was the matter of how he managed to convince me to bring him with my team for the Vytal Festival. I had half the powers of the Fall Maiden, and all it took was one stab through my leg with his katana, Yamato, to bring me down to my knees. Even more curiously, I had my Aura up at full power just in case someone like Roman tried anything against me.

And then there was that demonic form he used to kill the Beringel with... it was not like any Grimm I have ever seen. It was... intimidating... oozing with power I would never imagine exist, and he wanted more of it. Vergil was already capable of disappearing and slicing even the strongest of Grimm in an instant. I fear what he might do to me should he sided against Salem...

I never thought anyone like him exists... and that he was capable of making someone like me feel insignificance. I don't know whether I should act upon these feelings, or if I should keep them locked away. If any of Ozpin's slaves don't kill me, then this pained feeling will...

* * *

 **Kinda bland, I know, but that's because like Toriyama himself, I can't love story well.**

* * *

 **This one was written on 7/4/2018, WPW #90. It was a free for all, so I chose the prompt "** **A Character from another fictional series becomes a mentor for [Insert any RWBY character]" Now this one has a history behind it. See, back before I made the fic that it is today, TDWDTR was originally gonna take place in an alternate continuity that blended both the RWBY canon with DMC's. Patch would've been destroyed by a demon outbreak, leading to Tai and Summer dying in combat. Dante was able to make it and kill all the demons, but he would encounter Summer in her dying breaths, who pleads to Dante to watch after her daughters. Dante, having gone through a similar experience in his childhood, agrees to this and adopts Ruby and Yang as his own daughters. Also, Raven and Qrow were gonna be demons, making Yang a half-demon, who would inherit Ifrit as her weapon. I scrapped it because I didn't know how to blend the two lores seamlessly, but here's a little sample of what could've been.**

* * *

Ruby narrowed her eyes as she focused on the wooden targets all around her. With determination, she began swinging her broadsword all around her, creating rough cuts that spitted each target in half, the tails of her trench-coat floating with every move she made. As she readied her next strike, she saw a faraway target for her to practice on. Grabbing the hilt, Ruby thrust her sword towards the target...

"What are you doing?" Ruby stopped as she heard the new voice entering the room. She looked around herself noticing that she hasn't traveled at all.

"I was trying to do that lunge attack you always do, Dante," she said.

"You mean the Stinger?" Dante chuckled a bit as he took a nearby seat, pulling out his signature Rebellion in the process. "Sorry, kiddo, you know why you can't do it."

"I know, but you looked so cool doing it, I just wanted to do it myself..." Dante noticed how a bit glum Ruby looked, until he rose up with an idea.

"You got a speed semblance, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Throwing this out there, what if you were to slingshot yourself instead?" Dante suggested. "Embed that sword into the ground and just launch yourself to the target."

Ruby stared back at the target, willing to try out his suggestion. She dug her sword in the ground, still grabbing the hilt as she pulled back as far as she could. Focusing all the energy into her legs, Ruby sprung herself towards the target, removing the sword to aim it dead center as she flew across the room, a trail of rose pedals behind her. With a loud thunk! Ruby saw that she hit the target dead center, as she cheered in glee at the move's success. "Thanks, Dante!"

"Hey, anytime, kiddo." Just as he finished, the doors burst open, revealing Yang with two drinks in her hand.

"Sup, Dante!" She greeted. "You miss me?"

Yang tossed one of the drinks to him, which he grabbed with ease. He inspected it, before realizing it was a strawberry sunrise. "And how the hell did you managed to get your hands on this?"

Yang stared back and forth across the room before answering. "Let's just say I know a guy."

"Yeah, well let's just hope that guy didn't have you carry a stick back home with those drinks!" he taunted.

Ruby groaned as she heard their conversation. "Really? You talking about that?"

Dante and Yang both laughed, which slowly died down as he heard a knock on the door. He went to open it, revealing a middle-aged man with ruffled silver hair, wearing a black suit, a green shirt, a pair of shaded glasses and a cane in one hand. "Whatever it is you're selling, we don't want any." Dante dismissed him.

Right as he closed the door, the mysterious man used his cane to block it from shutting all the way, "Forgive me for intruding on such short notice, Dante, but I would like to discuss matters concerning Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long."

That alone was enough to raise some warnings in his head. He pulled out Ebony, aiming it straight at the man's head in concern. "Alright, creep. Knowing my name is a given, but how the hell do you know who Ruby and Yang are?"

"It's simple, really," he said. "Their parents, Taiyang and Summer were once students of mine. Although it did take some time to discovered what has happened to them."

Dante knew all to well what he was talking about. 15 years ago, Patch was attacked by a swarm of demons. By the time Dante got there to clear them out, most of the population was dead, with Summer on her last breaths. He swore to her that he would look after Ruby and Yang, who were lucky to be alive. They've been living with him ever since that day, treating them as if they were his own children.

"You must be Ozpin," Dante concluded. "Let me guess, you want to take them to Beacon?"

"That will be up to them to decide," Ozpin answered, before entering Devil May Cry, aware of the concerned scowl on Dante's face.

* * *

 **Before anyone asks, I'm willing to give anyone who wants to expand on this concept my blessing. I already have one RWBY/DMC story to work with.**

* * *

 **This last one was written on 8/29/2018, WPW #98. The prompt was "** **Other "true" legends in the history of Remnant other than the Maidens or the Two Brothers." So I decided to frame this as a follow up to Dante humilliating Cardin in Mission 5, and also as a risk to see if I could fame Sparda within Remnant. I used information from at the then recent Volume 5 (while also unintentionally alluding to Volume 6 during that one time Ozma just gave up on life during one of his lifetimes) to make this, and I'll admit, it's probably not that good (not to mention, 100% wrong because of Volume 6)**

* * *

The audible sounds of clocks ticking filled the room as Dante and Ozpin casually stared at each other. He sighed as he leaned back, wondering why Glynda had to send him up here in the first place. After all, it wasn't entirely his fault. Granted, he provoked Cardin, but he was begging to get his ass kicked the moment he started pulling on Velvet's ears. He was just giving him a taste of his own medicine, that's all.

"Let me guess," Ozpin spoke. "Glynda sent you here in a bout of rage, didn't she?"

"Pretty much," Dante replied. "I'm surprised you're so chill about this."

"While I do agree you should've hold back slightly, I won't turn a blind eye to the fact that you stood up for someone else." Ozpin responded with a sip of his coffee. "You're free to return to your team, Dante. Unless there is something else you want."

The demon hunter got up and walked towards the exit, only to stop halfway when a thought crept into his mind. "Actually, now that you mentioned it..." Dante closed the door as he walked towards the headmaster, "You said you knew my father, yet you don't look a day over 30. So either you were just trying to get on my good side, which wouldn't be the first time, or there's something you're not telling me."

The two locked eyes intensely, waiting for one to falter. Dante proved victorious as Ozpin sat his mug down on his desk, softly sighing as he prepared his thoughts. "You're right about one thing, I am quite young for someone who claims to know Sparda, so I can understand your skepticism. Perhaps a more accurate phrase would be that I knew him in another lifetime."

Dante was initially confused at this statement, he caught on to what he was implying. "So you have some reincarnation powers?"

"Not by choice..." Ozpin trailed off. Dante knew better than to press him on this, despite his curiosity, so he allowed the headmaster to continue. "I wasn't lying when I said we knew each other from Remnant's dawn. Almost a century ago, humanity was still starting out, trying to live in peace if it weren't for the Grimm. In fact, it was worse off back then than it was now. There was no dust, and obviously, we didn't have the technology to counteract these soulless beasts in any way. Those who fought died, and those who didn't did their best to leave." Ozpin rose up to stare out the window, looking over the horizon of Vale. "It didn't matter what we did, the Grimm still outnumbered us in ways we couldn't imagine. So, you could understand that humanity was getting desperate for some kind of miracle."

"Let me guess," Dante spoke. "You decided to ring up my dad to clean up the mess."

"You catch on quick," Ozpin said. "Though I wasn't there for the actual ceremony, mind you, I do remember his figure all too well. A sophisticated, purple coated man, but also a scarab-esque demon with powers rivaled only by the gods. As I saw him tear through even the mightiest of Grimm, I knew he could've killed us all if he wanted to, but I also knew that such destruction wasn't where his heart laid."

Heh, Dante chuckled in his mind. That sure sounds like him.

"Believe it or not, Sparda came to me personally," Ozpin continued. "He knew of the curse my soul bared, but he told me to look at it from a different point of view. As Oobleck probably mentioned, if one doesn't learn from history, then they are destined to repeat it. He trusted me to help guide humanity towards a brighter future, a promise I have no intention of breaking. But he also left one more gift for Remnant before bidding farewell."

"Which was...?"

"Dust." Dante eyes widened as Ozpin revealed the origin of the crystals to him. "The main reason you couldn't detect it yourself, is because Sparda diluted most of the demonic energy from the crystals he spread throughout the land. It makes them safer to handle that way. But one thing for certain. If it weren't for your father, none of us would be here."

Dante took the opportunity to process the story given to him, making sure every thing he said hold some merit of truth to it. "Alright, I'll buy that. Thanks for the history lesson, Oz."

As Dante made his exit, Ozpin called out to him one last time. "I would prefer if this conversation never left this room."

"Don't worry," he said. "It's not my secret to tell." And with that, he left the office, riding the elevator down as he thought to himself one last time. _Well, who would've thought?_

* * *

 **Welp, I hope you enjoy this batch of Secret Missions. Will there be more? Who knows, depends on what prompts I have to work with and whether or not I actually remember to do one.**

 **With that said... I really need to continue on _Dragon Ball Doki Doki._**


End file.
